I pray that you would please help us toaccept the truth tonight as it is preached—as unpleasant as it may be. We love you and thank you so much for the wonderful things that you have done for us in the last 48 hours. What a exciting weekend it has been, what a blessing. But, God, it is not over yet and I pray that you would please just bless the preaching service now and use it for the purpose that you intended and help it to be a fitting end to such a great weekend in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Now Luke chapter 16. Turn, if you would to Revelation 21. We’ll come back to Luke 16. But in Luke 16 we saw the very famous story that Jesus tells where he describes the rich man and Lazarus and their eternal destiny. One is spending eternity with Jesus Christ and with his spiritual progenitor Abraham. The other is tormented in hell in fire and brimstone and torture forever.
But look, if you would, at Revelation 21. And I am going to preach to you tonight on a subject that I really don’t preach very often on this subject and...because it is a unpleasant subject. And, believe it or not, it is a subject that I don’t really like to think about very much.
Now I preach a lot of very hard sermons and I would be described by most as a hell fire and damnation preacher because I preach hard on sin. I beat the pulpit. I shout against what is wrong. But when it comes to hell it is a horrible thought, it is a horrible subject. It is something that I don’t like to often thing about. But it is my duty as a preacher, I believe, to preach to you tonight on this subject, “The Horrors of Hell.”
Now I think in the whole time I pastured since I started this church a little less than two and a half years ago, I believe I have only preached one entire sermon dedicated to the subject of Hell. But tonight I am going to do that and I want to start tonight by way of introduction by talking about who is it that is going to go to hell. Who will be spending their eternity in hell?
Well, look down at Revelation 21 verse eight. The Bible reads, “But the fearful, and unbelieving.”[1] Of course the unbeliever will spend eternity in hell. It says, “And the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars.”[2] Well, that covers everybody. “And all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”[3]
Now go down to verse 21, if you would. We are going to see the description of heaven here. The Bible reads in verse 21:
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.[4]
Talking about heaven, of course. “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”[5] And watch this.
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.[6]
Watch this now. “And there shall in no wise...”[7] What does that mean? He is saying, “No way.” “There shall in now wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination.”[8] Watch this. “Or maketh a lie.”[9] How many lies? A lie.
I have heard people say when I showed them that verse that said all liars are going to hell. They said, “Well, that’s talking about a habitual liar. That is talking about somebody who lies all the time.”
I am going to tell you. There are people who are saved who lie all the time. I have known them. I can tell you about them. But he says here, “No. Even a person who maketh a lie is not allowed to go into heaven.” He says, “But they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”[10] They who are saved will be granted entrance to the pearly gates of that glorious city, the New Jerusalem which descended from God out of heaven.[11]
Right now it is in heaven. Right now if you go to heaven you would see the pearly gates and the golden streets. One day that city is going to descend upon a new earth. “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:”[12]
You see, in order to go to heaven you have got to be saved.
You say, “How can I be saved?”
Hey, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”[13]
You see, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you will be saved from the awful punishment of hell. You will be forgiven of every lie that you have told, every sin that you have ever committed, any murder that you have committed, any abomination you have committed. The moment that you believe on Jesus Christ your sins are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. Hey, past, present and future, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone.
You say, “Are you ever going to tell a lie when you get to heaven?”
Absolutely not. The only reason I tell lies now is because I am in the flesh. I mean, my spirit is a brand new creature. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”[14] That’s why if I walk in the spirit I’ll not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.[15] That is why if I put on the new man I will do what is right and godly. But right now, “O wretched man that I am!”[16] Living in this sinful flesh that causes me to sin on a daily basis, one day, the moment that I breathe my last breath this sinful flesh will be gone forever. My soul [?] will be transported to heaven in a sinless condition and then one glorious day my body is going to be resurrected from the dead, changed in a moment and the twinkling of an eye and I will live forever in heaven without sin, sinless and perfect.
Now none of us can be there now because we have the flesh. But one day that will be the case. So who is not going to heaven? Those who are not saved are the ones who are going to hell. They will be excluded from heaven.
What do you have to do to be saved? The Bible said you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is who...John 3:15, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”[17] John 3:16:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.[18]
You know what I love about the word “saved?” It has a “d” on the end. It is done. It is past tense. And so he said, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”[19]
Somebody said this. They said, “Well, maybe you could lose your salvation if you stopped believing.”
Well, you can’t lose your salvation or God is a liar because he said, “I give unto them eternal life; and...neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”[20]
They shall never perish. But what if purging out...
Personally I believe that when you are saved the Bible says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”[21] Ok. But let’s say, theoretically, a person did stop believing. Well, Paul said to Timothy, he said, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”[22] He cannot alter the thing that is uttered out of lips. It says in Psalm 89, “Once have I sworn and I will not repent. Thy seed shall endure forever,”[23] he said of Jesus Christ in Psalm 89.
But what about this? I just quoted for you John 3:18 where he said why? “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed.”[24] That’s past tense. He never believed on Jesus Christ. He hath not believed in name of the only begotten Son of God. Because if Jesus Christ said, “Depart from me. I never knew you,”[25] once you believed on Jesus Christ you are saved. Ok. If you go to hell it is because he never knew you. It is because you have not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
But let’s go into a little more the finer points of who is going to be excluded. Look at Romans chapter 11. While you are turning to Romans chapter 11—and this is the introduction to the sermon on the Horrors of Hell—we had better establish who it is that is going to be in hell. Let me quote for you Ephesians 2:8-9 while you are turning to Romans 11:6.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith.”[26] Faith and believe are the same words. “And that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”[27] It is not of works. It is by grace through faith.
Look down at your Bible to Romans 11:6. We are going to look at something. And this is horrific, my friend, to realize that this group is going to hell. But I am going to show you right now that they are going to hell. Look at Romans 11:6. The Bible says, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”[28]
What is he saying? You cannot mix faith and works. You can’t do it. He says as soon as you start trusting works, it is no longer grace.
Now, let me just prove that to you right now. I shouldn’t have to, because that is what the Bible said. But I will prove it to you anyway. If I said to you, “I am going to give you a free gift.” Ok. Brother Boscoe, I am going to give you a free gift tonight. It is totally of grace. It is nothing that you have earned. It is just a free gift.
Now how much money would you have to give me where it would cease to be a free gift?
One cent, right? I mean, if he put anything forward of his own that is not free. That is not grace. Do you understand what I am saying?
So God says, “If it is of works, if he has to lift one finger for me in order to get that gift, it is no longer faith and grace. It is works.”
And by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight.[29]
So, number one, we saw the unbeliever will go to hell. Number two, the person who is trusting faith plus works is on their way to hell tonight. I am going to prove it to you again. Turn to Galatians chapter five. The person who is trusting faith plus works will split hell wide open.
Picture this. There is an airplane at an airport. The airplane is Jesus. Ok, this is just an illustration. It is a parable that I am telling you. The airplane is Jesus. The destination is heaven. You get on that plane. It is headed for heaven. What happens if you put one leg on the plane and one leg on the tarmac? What happens when that plane takes off? You are not going anywhere. You are going to split your britches. You are going to land flat on you face on that tarmac. You are not going anywhere unless you get all the way on board. And it is just like when Noah got on the ark. God shut him in. God shut the door behind him. You have got to get on board, shut the door. You are in. You can’t get out. You are on your way to heaven. That is what salvation is.
Look at verse one of Galatians five. We will see this proven further than if a person is trusting faith plus works, faith plus baptism, faith plus church attendance, faith plus I gave up my sins, faith plus live a good life, they are on their way to hell. Look at Galatians 5:1:
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.[30]
Does that sound like you are going to heaven if Christ profits you nothing? No. Watch this.
“For I testify again.”[31] Look at how he is reiterating this.
I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.[32]
Here we have people teaching theChurch ofGalatia that you have to be circumcised and believe. He said, “You are going to hell. Christ is going to profit you nothing. You are not saved. If you want to add one thing,” he said, “you have got to keep the whole law. You better be perfect. You better keep every part of the law. If you want to go to heaven by the law, ok, keep every word of it. It is impossible.”
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.[33]
So we see here that another category that is going to hell is those who believe in faith plus works.
Matthew chapter seven and this is by way of introduction to the sermon on the horrors of hell that we have got to talk about who is going to hell. Number one, everyone who is an unbeliever. Number two, those who are trusting faith plus works, Jesus plus baptism, Jesus plus living a good life. That is your Roman Catholic. Jesus plus the sacraments, plus living a good life. That is your Methodist. You have got to live a good life. You have got to endure to the end or you are going to lose your salvation. There is your charismatic. There is your Nazarene. There is your Assemblies of God. There’s all these denominations that teach that if you get out of church and quit on God he is going to take it away from you, as if church attendance is a prerequisite, as if living a good life is a prerequisite, as if the works of the law are part of your salvation.
Matthew 7:21 the Bible reads, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”[34]
You say, “Wait a minute. Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’?”[35] Well, keep reading.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?[36]
You have got to call on Jesus Christ by faith. Belief is what saves you.
And so he says here, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”[37] He says, “You have to go God’s way, the way that the Father has ordained.”
“Many will say to me in that day...” [38]
Who is going to hell the few or the many? The many.
Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.[39]
And so he says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?”[40]
He is saying, “We preach in the name of Jesus Christ.”
“And in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful...”[41] And the word that is going to resonate in their minds throughout all eternity “works.”
“And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.”[42] There is proof enough that you can’t lose your salvation. He said, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”[43]
I will read you two more verses. You don’t have to turn there. Matthew 25:41. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”[44]
Verse 46. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”[45]
So, number one. Now we are in to the sermon. Number one, what is the horror of hell? Do you know what the biggest horror of hell is? The duration, how long it lasts. That is the most horrible part about hell. I mean, if you ask me what is most horrible, fearful part about hell. Hands down in a moment I will say to you, “The length of time that you are in hell, the fact that it goes on forever.” That is what is so horrible about it. I mean that is the worst part about it.
He said that they will depart from me into everlasting fire.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses say they will be burned up. They will be annihilated. I show them this verse and they say, “Well, then it also says they will be burned up.”
Well, I guess the Bible contradicts itself then if it says too opposite things. But it doesn’t say that. It says that nowhere.
You see, the Bible is clear that they shall go in to everlasting punishment. That’s talking about being punished for all eternity. I mean a hundred years from now, punishment. I mean a punishment that never ends is what everlasting punishment means.
Number one, the length of eternity.
Let’s use our imaginations for a moment as we get into the sermon tonight. Let’s think about a person, think about a man who is living his life and he is an unbeliever. He is unsaved. He has heard the gospel. Maybe he hasn’t heard it as clearly as he ought to have heard it, but he has heard the name of Jesus like everybody in this world has. I don’t care what anybody says. That’s the truth. Somewhere along the way they hear something somewhere. I mean, even inAfrica.
Somebody said, “What about people inAfrica?”
You know,Africa, I believe the population is under 400 million. It is under 400 million, not even a billion people reside on the continent ofAfrica. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I know it is far less than a billion people. And yet how many tens of thousands of missionaries are inAfrica right now. There have been missionaries toAfrica for centuries. There are missionaries all over the world.
The Muslim knows who Jesus Christ. All over the world, “Their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world.”[46]
God asks, “Have they not heard? Yes, verily.”[47] They have heard. They have heard the truth.
But let’s picture, if you will, a man and he is on his death bed dying. He has lived his life. He is an old man and he is in the hospital perhaps. And the little monitor is measuring his heart beat. It is slowly declining. He closes his eyes and slips off into death. What happens to him? What is going to happen? He is an unbeliever. He is unsaved.
Well, the Bible said in Luke 16—and you can turn there if you like—but in Luke 16 the Bible says, “And in hell he lift up his eyes...”[48] That’s how fast that man is going to be in hell.
You say, “Well, is he going to stand before judgment before God?”
No. He is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
That man breathed his last breath and in a moment, from the time it takes him to close his eyes for the last time when he opens them he is in hell.
What does he experience? What is he feeling?
Well, immediately he feels pain as though his entire body...Have you ever burned yourself before? Have you ever stuck your finger onto something that was very hot or burned? I remember one time I laid my hand on a metal pan that had just come out of an oven. And I seared the whole palm of my hand and it peeled and blistered and it was extremely painful. And even after I took my hand away and ran it under cold water I could still feel that burning sensation.
Another time as a child I spilled hot glue on myself and I couldn’t get the glue off. It was extreme pain and it went on for hours after I had gotten rid of the glue, hours after I had run it under cold water.
He is going to feel. The first thing that is going to get his attention is just the feel, the burning all over his body. Every square inch of his body in flames and literal fire.
The Bible says, “And in hell...”[49] Look down at Luke 16 in front of you there.
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue...[50]
Watch this. “For I am tormented in this flame.”[51] He said, “I am being tortured by flame.”
And so the rich man here his body didn’t go to hell at this point. His body was laying there for everybody to see just like the man in our hypothetical story. He is laying in the hospital bed. He breathes his last breath. The monitor goes flat and there he is. His body is laying there, just a lifeless shell of what was once the man that lived and breathed and talked and spoke. Now it is just a lifeless cadaver.
But his soul is in hell. He can feel every part of the flame.
And you say, “Well, he doesn’t have a body.”
Well, but, you know, in a little bit of doctrine here. At the end of the book of Revelation the souls of them that had been martyred for Jesus before the rapture, it talks about them receiving whit raiment and wearing it. You know, they were able to wear clothing. So we understand it is a soul, but it is...it is a body of sorts. It is just not made of flesh and blood, ok, but it is still in the shape of a person and he is still going to have hands and he is still going to have a tongue because he said, “Put water on my tongue.”
Do you see what I am saying?
So it is a spiritual soul, but it is like a body. It has the same parts of the body, just not flesh and bone. It is just not a physical flesh and bone body.
But he man’s body is not here, but his soul is burning in hell. The first thing he is going to feel is that burning sensation all over his body. But then there is going to be an extreme fear of falling because the Bible describes hell as a bottomless pit.
Of course we know from Ezekiel 30 and 31 and elsewhere in the Bible that the Bible says that hell is in the nether parts of the earth, in the lower parts of the earth. Hell beneath is what the Bible calls it. And so in the center of the earth there is no gravity. And it is a sensation not of weightlessness, but of continual falling is what it feels like because he says, “The bottomless pit”[52] in Revelation 20.
And so he is falling. And you can imagine somebody just free falling. And they are trying to grab hold of somewhere. They don’t know if they are going to hit the ground. They don’t know what’s happening. They feel like they are going to fall and hurt themselves or hit themselves. They are burning and burning. They are trying to grab for something and it is just a continual falling.
I can’t even imagine what that would be like to just be falling forever. But engulfed in flames, falling, total darkness, trying to see, but the light is not enough for them to see any thing.
You say, “I want to go to hell where all my friends are.” Nobody has any friends in hell.
This man said, “I don’t want my brothers to go to hell to be with me because I love them too much.
You won’t have any friends in hell. TV and movies try to make hell out to be a place where sin dominates and sin reigns. That’s a lie.
You know, from the Merry Melodies cartoons that you show your children—and that is why I am against all the world’s TV and all the world’s garbage and movies because they all have an agenda. From Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies where Porky Pig is the devil and he is dancing around in hell like he owns the place laughing. The devil is not even in hell, my friend. And one day when he goes to hell he is not going to be laughing. He is going to be tormented. He is going to be punished. He is not rolling around.
You see tables set up in hell and there’s...you know, there’s a couple of coals smoldering here and there in the underworld. Porky Pig has got a pitchfork. Everybody is sitting around the tables playing cards, drinking, smoking. You know, we have all seen the images. They are drinking. They are cursing. They are just committing all this sin. And everybody is just kind of committing sin.
No, because you have to understand the person who is running the show in hell is not the devil, but God. That is who is in charge. The Bible says in Revelation 14:10, “They shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”[53]
You say, “Well, I believe hell is to be separated from God.”
It is a lie.
“I believe hell is eternal separation from God.”
It is a lie.
Hell is a place where people are tormented in the presence of Jesus Christ. It is in the Bible. He said they will be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, in the presence of the Lamb.
And so the devil is not running the show in hell. Jesus Christ is running the show in hell. He is the one who created hell. It is fulfilling his will and his purpose, not that of the devil. And so there is falling.
The man who just entered hell, let’s say he just entered 10 seconds ago, the man who we are talking about. He is falling. He is burning. He is in darkness. He is scared to death. And he is waiting for it to end.
I mean that...wouldn’t you? I mean, if you got into some kind of that you would say, “The only hope I have is that this is eventually going to end.” That is what Jesus said when he was in hell in Psalm 16:10 he said, “For thou wilt not...”[54] He said, “My soul shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One of corruption.” [55]
Acts2:31. “This spake he of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.”[56]
But, you see, Jesus’ only hope is that he was going to one day get out of hell and reign forever more and be lifted up at the right hand of the Father. Of course, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He said, “I have the power to lay down my life. I have the power to take it up again.”[57]
But the man who is in hell, he must be thinking, “Surely, there is going to be an end to this. I mean, surely there is going to be some reprieve. Surely it is going to end. I mean, it is just...I have just got to hang on. If I could just hang on for 10 more seconds or maybe just five more minutes...I don’t even know if I could endure five minutes of this. But maybe if I could endure for five minutes it will be over.”
But it goes on and on and on and on. Days go by. I mean one day in hell is unthinkable. Three days and three nights in hell, unthinkable. I mean going to hell for five minutes it must seem like five years. But he waits and waits and years and years go by. In fact, hundreds of years go by and he is going to start to realize and say, “This is never going to end. This is never going to be over. This is going to go on forever. I am never going to get out.”
I remember when I was a young child, maybe about 10, 11, 12, somewhere around there. I remember just sitting down and just trying to...trying to understand hell. You know what I mean? Because I was just a kid and I...and I knew what the Bible said, you know. I got saved when I was six years old and I had a clear understanding of hell at that time, for sure, a clear understanding of Jesus Christ and salvation and eternal life and heaven and everything like that. But I remember just sitting down as a 10, 11, 12 year old boy, sitting down on the couch in my house and just trying to wrap my mind around hell. And, you know, to this day I can’t fully comprehend it, of course. But I sat there and just tried to understand it.
And this is what thought entered mind. I thought to myself....I looked over at the closet and I thought to myself, “What if I were locked in that closet for 100 years, nothing to do, nothing to see, the closet is dark.”
You know and I went in the closet and just shut the door just for a moment and it was completely dark. I couldn’t really move around much, right? Because it was a coat closet. I couldn’t really move around that much and it was totally dark and there was nothing to do, nothing to read, no one to talk to. And I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t want to be in here for two days.” It would be terrible. I wouldn’t want to be in here for two weeks.
Have you ever been really bored? Have you ever...remember when you were at school you have detention? The torture of detention is just sitting there doing nothing. You know, at least that’s the way...you’d be detained for an hour, an hour and a half. It’s like torture. You just sat there and it went on and on. You are staring at the clock.
But I thought to myself, to be locked in this closet for two weeks straight would be torture. I mean, torture.
You know, and we’re putting aside, you know, food and water because this is obviously a spiritual place where you don’t need food and water. He said, “I just water to cool off my tongue.” He didn’t need to eat food to exist or drink water.
But imagine just being locked up like that in a place where you couldn’t move around much, couldn’t see much, couldn’t do anything, just the boredom, just the agony of just being by yourself alone. Darkness.
And I remember just thinking about two weeks, a month, years, horrible thought.
And then I thought, “What if you never get out of that closet.” That would be awful, wouldn’t it, just locked in a closet forever and you knew you were never going to get out.
But then, that is not even fire. Do you see what I am saying? I mean, hell would be horrible without the fire. Think about that. And yet there is fire.
And I remember I thought about that when I was just a young child. Man, we have got to get people saved. Good night. It is terrible.
And I remember thinking to myself. “It is horrible if anybody goes to hell.” But do you know what would be really horrible? If somebody went to hell and they could have been saved if somebody would have told them the gospel, they would have gotten saved.
“Oh, well, if somebody really wants to get saved, God is going to make sure...”
Nonsense. Garbage. It’s a lie.
There are people in this city and elsewhere in the world that if somebody would take the Bible and really give them a clear presentation of the gospel and really lay it out for them point by point, they’d be thrilled to receive the gospel and be saved. They are out there. And if you don’t believe come out soul winning with me next week. I’ll take you to them. It might take hours. We might knock doors for hours of being slammed in our face or people saying no. But we will find that one. And they are going to be passed from death to life and they will never have to see hell because we were used by God to preach them the gospel.
It is the truth.
I remember as a child as a teenager these thoughts would come into my mind. “Please, can we just give them a chance? I mean, if somebody just rejects it and brazenly says no...I mean, I...maybe I can swallow that a little bit more than somebody who would have been saved if they had really had it clearly explained to them....or persistent.”
You know, my wife...do you know how many times I had to give the gospel to my wife before she got saved? In excess of 20 times. And I am not kidding. I mean that. I mean I...it took a long time. It took hours of persuasion. It took Bible and verses and talking to her and pleading. And then it took prayer and weeping. That is what it took.
You say, “Oh, well, if you hadn’t gotten her saved somebody else would have.”
Do you really think so? A girl that grew up, born and raised in German inBavaria, a girl who had never even heard the word Baptist, never even heard of a Baptist? She thought there were two Christian religions: Catholic and Evangelical, meaning Protestant, meaning Lutheran which is pretty much over there it is the same exact thing as the Catholics. She thought anything else was a cult. A girl who had never heard the gospel, never even heard anybody put forth the idea that the Bible’s creation account was actually reality. Never even heard of that.
And she was, what, 20 years old when I met her.
You can get people saved if you try. I mean, not everybody is going to get saved, but you can pull them out of the fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.[58]
And so here is this man and he is burning in hell. He has pretty much given up on the fact of ever getting out, you know, after about, well, for sure more than 1000 years have gone by, over 1000 years because he had gone through the whole rest of history and through all the events in the book of Revelation, the whole millennial reign of Christ for 1000 years. He has been languishing in hell this whole time.
Well, then, suddenly out of nowhere, out of the blue...turn to Revelation 20. He didn’t see this coming. I mean, he had long ago given up. Now he has been in hell for over 1000 years, but it even seems like longer than that. Which, I, you know, can’t even fathom these numbers. I mean, think about how long we have been alive. None of us even knows what 1000 years is. None of us can comprehend that or let alone 1000 years in hell.
But suddenly out of the blue. Here he is. He is burning in hell. He is given up completely. He has got...what is he doing in hell? You know what? The only thing there is to do, think. That’s all you can do in hell is just think, just remember. And I believe he is probably just replaying his life over and over in his mind, just to pass...just to do something, starting from the time he is born, all the way until he dies. This is just remembering his life, just scene by scene, act by act living out, reliving his life in his mind. And I bet something keeps coming up in his mind every time he ever heard any thing about Jesus, every time he ever heard anything about hell, any time he ever heard anything about the gospel. Any time he had ever sat in a church service, any time he had ever read a Bible verse any time he had ever heard somebody quote a verse and, you know, the Bible has become a part of our society in many ways and our culture. And you will hear verses. You will hear people make statements that are from the Bible out and about. People have heard the verse, “Jesus wept.”[59] Or I heard somebody say one time he was like on a political type talk show. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled.”[60] But he was talking about something completely different. Of course that’s just quoting Jesus, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God...”[61]
You know, people speak and they talk about, “Oh, well, render unto Caser the things that be Caesars.”[62]
He is probably thinking about every time he heard the Word of God, verses about Jesus, the Bible, God, maybe somebody knocked on the door at some point and he said, “I’m sorry. I’ve got to watch the game, the Phoenix Suns are on right now. It is into overtime. I can’t talk right now.”
And he is saying, “Oh, God, why? Why didn’t I listen?”
And he is replaying in his mind over and over again. Suddenly he is plucked from hell.
Look down at Revelation 20 if you would. The Bible says in verse number 12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”[63]
Watch this. “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them”[64] Our friend has just been delivered from hell. Do you see this? All the sudden he is transported. Hell ejects him into the presence of God, the great white throne of judgment. Will we be there? Yes, everybody will be there. The heaven and earth are removed. There is found no place for them. Every human being in the world is there at the great white throne judgment.
Now we are not going to be there to be judged, because it is the dead who were judged. Of course, we have already been resurrected and alive. We have been alive for over 1000 years, those of us who are living in 2008. We have been alive for over 1000 and so. But the dead are brought out and we are there are spectators at this event. Everybody is there. The angels, God’s throne, man, every creature. Everything is there. There is no other place to exist. There is no universe. There is no sun. There is no moon. There is no earth. There is no heaven. It is just the great white throne of judgment. They have all fled away. No place for them. Everybody is there at this moment.
And I am sure that man, as he is ejected from hell is saying...he is shocked. He is standing on solid ground. He is no longer in flames. He is saying, “Oh, thank you, God, for being merciful to me.”
And in a last ditch effort he falls to his knees and confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
And as the Bible says in Philippians two that at the name of Jesus Christ every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, things under the earth. Did you hear? And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.[65]
And he falls to his knees and says, “Jesus Christ, you are the Lord. You are the Savior of the world.”
I mean he can’t even scream loud enough. His voice is cracking and breaking as he cries out to be heard above the thousands and millions and billions of other people who are screaming, “Jesus, you are the Lord. Save me.”
But there is a deafening silence as the books are opened. Every man in sight is silent and only one thing can be heard. God the Judge, God the Father sitting on his throne opening the books. And then another book is open, the Lamb’s book of life. And any name that is not in the Lamb’s book of life, he gets out the other books.
You say, “What are the other books?” The Bible. There are 66 of them.
Because, you say, “Well, how do you know?”
Well, because the dead are being judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works. [66] And do you know what? The Bible says this is what Jesus said on the Church in John five. He said, “This is what you will be judged by, Moses. This is what you will be judged Moses in whom you trust,”[67] to the unbelieving Jews. He said, “You will be judged by God’s Word.”
And so I have heard people say that these books are a list of everything that everybody has ever done in their life. Of course, if everything that Jesus had ever done in his life...God said the world couldn’t even contain the books. [68] And so I believe the books that are opened is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy...the books are opened. And he begins to expose to them their sin. And he runs through with them their life. And “Every idle word that men shall speak, the Bible says, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”[69]
Every time they said something wicked, every time they said something ungodly, every time they committed a sin against God it is going to be put forth as evidence against them.
You say, “Why do people go to hell?”
Because they are sinners, because they have lied, because they have murdered, because they have stolen, because they have thought dirty thoughts, because they have committed adultery, physically or in their heart.
And so all of those sins will be listed off. Of course, our sins will never be mentioned to us the Bible says. Gone, gone, gone. The Bible says, “As far as east is from the west so far has God separated us from our sins.”[70]
Hebrews 10:17, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”[71]
But the unbeliever, it is not so with him. God runs through and exposes to him his sins. And then he opens up the book of life. Names not found therein, he says, “Depart from me. I never knew you. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”[72]
I can see a few strong angels take each one of them by the arms and grab them and cast them into the lake of fire for all eternity. That one little break is over. That one little reprieve that they had from the flames and torment of hell, it is over. And now they know it is forever because God has just explained to them from the Bible that it is forever.
And there they are going to languish forever more. Look down at your Bible. It says, “They were judged every man according to their works,”[73] every wicked work, every ungodly thing that was said out of their mouth. He says, “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.”[74]
So now hell is being relocated. It says in the lake of fire. And I will prove that to you. “This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”[75]
You say, “How do you know hell is being relocated to the lake of fire?”
Well, because the Bible says, “Fear not him which is able to kill the body, but is not able to kill the soul. But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”[76]
Now we know that the unsaved man who dies today, his body is not going to hell. But there is going to be the resurrection of damnation described by Jesus in John chapter five and in his soul and his spirit and his body is going to be cast into hell which is now in the lake of fire.
So it says, “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”[77] And they will be there forever, “In the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”[78]
Let me show you two things about hell tonight. And, by the way, let me tell you a little story. You know, when I go soul winning, I...you know, I guess I am a confrontational soul winner, but I am never mean or unkind to people. You know, there is no reason to be like that and that is not the way I am. I believe that we are bearing the good news of salvation, so it should be a positive message. I mean the first thing I obviously tell somebody is that you have got to tell them that they are sinner. And you have got to show and I show them these verses from Revelation 21, showing them that they are condemned to hell, showing them that the wages of sin is death, showing them that even a lie and all of these other things that will damn them to hell... But I say, “You know, God loves you. He doesn’t want you to go to hell.” And I explain to them the gospel and Jesus Christ [?]. I am not going to go into that for the sake of time, but what all I explain to them.
And then I go through that whole thing with them. I give them the gospel. And, you know, I don’t go to people and, “You need to be saved or you are going to go to hell and you are a filthy sinner and...”
You know, people who are doing that, they are not getting people saved. They don’t have love and tear in the eye, they just go around screaming at people. And, you know, if they really loved them they would want them to get saved so they would talk to them in a way that is going get them saved. And I am not talking about toning it down. I am not talking about trimming the message, but the Bible says, “Speaking the truth in love.”[79] It says to be gentle. The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. [80] And so I gently explain to them that they are on their way to hell, that they are without hope, that they are damned eternally without Christ.
[?] yell at somebody and brow beat them and everything. Because, you know, I care about them. I love them. I want them saved. But, you know, yesterday that was an exception to that. And, you know, I was out soul winning all day. You know, we stop...we quit at8:15 at night. You know, we start at9:30. We took, you know, a break for lunch, a break for dinner. But we were out soul winning all day long .We talked to all kinds of people. And in that whole day of probably just pure soul winning as far as forgetting all breaks and driving from point to point, as far as just pure door knocking and soul winning, actual just labor time, you know, a good solid eight hours. And in that time I had six people saved personally, ok, in that time, in eight hours.
And, you know, God was really blessing us yesterday. Oh, man. I mean I have been praying for this day. And I know other people have been praying about that town Helo Bend and never had a good church. We went down there and it was...I remember...I mean, literally, for the last couple of days I was thinking to myself, “You know, that is kind of a weird idea. This is a crazy idea, you know. I have never heard of anything like this and, you know, another stupid idea.”
You know, I have had a lot of ideas. Some of them are a flop. Some of them work out great. And you never know until you try. So I just like to try things, you know.
And so, man alive, did God just pour out his blessings? Good night. Twenty-seven people saved. We had 16 people that...but 27 people saved. That’s a lot. I mean that’s a lot. But everybody was so friendly. I have never been invited into people’s houses so much. “Come on in. Sit down. Show it to me.” Never have I had that kind of a reception.
But I believe that was just God blessing us. That’s all it was, was prayer.
But there was one man yesterday. I knocked on his door. It was in an apartment complex. I knocked on the door and an old man, he comes, he was a bitter old man. And he was very old and he had to kind of hobble over to the door and he was extremely old and looked mean. And I said, “Hi, how are you doing?” I said, “I want to invite you toFaithful Word Baptist Church. Do you go to Church anywhere?”
“No.”
I said, “Well, if you died today, do you know, for sure you would go to heaven?”
He said, “There is no place...such thing as blankety blank heaven.” He said, “Because blankety blank God is a lie. The Bible is blank, blank, blank.”
And I mean he just cursed and swore and blasphemed God, Jesus, the Bible, everything you can imagine. And I said, “What do you believe?” I said, “What do you believe in?” I said, “Look around”
You know, I was trying to please him to get saved. I didn’t even...even then I didn’t just scream at him. I just said, “Look around.” And I quoted him some verses from Romans. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen... even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”[81] I said, “Look around at nature. Look at the world. Who made all this?” I said, “Where did it come from?” I said, “You believe that...”
And he said, “Oh, it is just foolishness.”
I said, “It is foolishness that man came from a monkey.”
And he said, “Well, you need to take a biology class. You need to take science.”
And I said, “Do you know what?” I said, “You need to take a biology class, because,” I said, “a single celled organism has 28 parts. A single cell organism has a reproductive system, a digestive system, it has all these different functionalities. I remember when I was in high school learning about microbiology I said a single celled organism is like a city it is so complex.” I said, “It looks like a city with transportation. I mean, it is amazing, God’s creation.”
I said, “Man can’t create life in a laboratory at this day. Man can’t even create the simplest life forms. Nobody can bring it to life. When they talk about cloning, all they are doing...they take something that is already alive and they just replace the DNA. They didn’t create something new alive.”
Do you remember the...and the never will, by the way? Only God can create life.
Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses and said, “We are going to create lice out of dust.” And they said, “We can’t do it. This is the finger of God.[82]
Only God can create life. They couldn’t spontaneously create life from nothing.
And I said, “If man in all his wisdom and knowledge can’t create life, how could life just create itself from nowhere? How could it come from random?”
He said, “Well, that’s not true. They can create life in the laboratory.”
I said, “You are ignorant.” I said, “You are ignorant of science.” I said, “You need to do some reading. Here you are pontificating to me like you know so much science.” I said, “Nobody can make something come to life.” I said, “What do you think, it is Frankenstein?” I said, “That is how Frankenstein was about, taking a body a bringing it to life. They can’t do it. They can pump the blood. They can beat the heart. They can send electronic impulses to the brain. It won’t come to life. It is gone. It is dead forever because God ahs taken life. And the spirit went back to God that gave it.”
You see...and I explained this to him and he just went on and just cursed and swear again. And the blaspheme...I am not even going to repeat the stuff he was saying. You know, it was just...it was every four letter word mixed with Jesus and God and the Bible combined. The boldness of this man was stunning to me. And I said to him, I said, “You know what?” I said, “If you don’t change what you believe,” I said, “You are going to burn in hell.” And I said, “Look.” I said, “Take a good look.” This is exactly what I said to him. And I said it in this way because I was a little bit angry at this point. I said, “Take a good look at my face.” I said, “You are going to remember this face for all eternity.” I said, “For billions of years while you burn in hell you are going to think about it. This face is going to resonate in your mind when I came here and told you the truth and preached to you the gospel.” I said, “You are going to remember this forever.” And I said, “At the white throne judgment,” I said, “I am going to look at you right in your eyes. You remember that I said this. I am going to look you right in the eye when God casts you into hell.” I said, “You better change what you believe.”
And he said, “Well, I just hope that you don’t influence anybody else.”
I said, “We’re knocking every door in this town today.” I said, “And you can’t stop us.”
And he slammed the door.
Boy, what’s going to happen to him when he breathes his last? It could be today. It could be a month from now, especially after you say that about God. Who knows what he is going to do?
Remember when Nabal cursed David. The next day his heart became as a stone and in two weeks he was dead. Who knows what is going to...I don’t know. It could be years. Hey, who cares if it is 20 years that he lives and becomes a very old man? What if he lives 100 more years? Is it really going to matter? Because life is this vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away[83] and the scope of eternity that he is going to spend in hell.
And, you know, hopefully he will get saved, doubtful. It is doubtful. He sounded like he had heard it a few times before. I don’t think he is going to get saved. I gave him the gospel. I told him the truth. But he is probably going to spend eternity in hell.
Let me give you a few points and just quickly because we are getting late tonight, but number one. Hell is a place of literal flaming fire and torment. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9:
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.[84]
You know, modern Bibles change that. The NIV would change that to say, “Away from the presence of the Lord.” No. “Destruction from the presence of the Lord.”[85] Because in Revelation14:10 it says they will be punished in the presence of the holy angels.
David said it this way in the book of Psalms. “If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”[86]
But not only is hell a place of literal flaming fire and torment as we saw in Luke chapter 16, a man begging for a drop of water to cool his tongue and the flames of fire, Mark 9:43. You say, “Why do you preach a sermon to scare people?” Well, listen to this sermon. Mark9:43: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off.”[87] That’s pretty extreme. If your hand is going to send you to hell he says, “Just cut it off.”
It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into thekingdom ofGod with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.[88]
That is Mark 9:43-49. That is Jesus preaching. Wow.
But, number two, hell is a real physical place. It has a physical location. In the book of Numbers 16—don’t turn there—it talks about them that go down quick into the pit.[89] Talking about people falling into a chasm in the earth, dropping alive into hell.
“If God makes a new thing,” he said, “It has never happened before,” Moses said. But he said, “If I am telling the truth, Korah, Dathan and Abiram and all their company will drop in a chasm in the earth alive into hell.”[90] And that is what happened because hell is a real physical place. It has a physical real location in the heart of the earth.
And so they go down quickly into the pit. “They and all that appertain to them went down alive into the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation.”[91] They died on the way down, obviously, as they reached the flames of hell it burned them up and their body was torched as their soul and spirit continued the drop all the ay down to the bottomless pit of hell.
Amos 9:2, “Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.”[92] It is a physical place.
Ezekiel 32:18, “Unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.”[93]
We already talked about hat they are going to be tormented in the presence of God. We can skip over that for the sake of time. But look at this verse. Turn to Isaiah 30 verse 30. Now who remembers reading in the Bible about a place called Tophet—T-O-P-H-E-T? Put up your hand if that sounds a little familiar to you. Tophet.
Tophet is the valley of the son of Hinnom. That might sound familiar to you. It is a place that is described very often throughout the Bible. Tophet or the valley of the son of Hinnom, it was a place where wicked kings and ungodly Baal worshippers and Molech worshippers would take their children and cause them to pass through the fire. It was a valley that was set on fire and they would have human sacrifice, wicked, ungodly action that God condemned again and again and again. Over I believe 11 times in the Old Testament he talks about people making their children to pas through the fire. And he condemned it and decried it all throughout the Old Testament. But this place was called...the proper name...our city is calledPhoenix. Our state is calledArizona. This place was called Tophet. It was the valley of the son of Hinnom.
Watch what God says here. He is using Tophet as an illustration, as a picture of hell here. Read this. Verse 30. “And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger.”[94] This is God’s anger.
Are you reading it?
And with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones. For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.[95]
Listen. “For Tophet is ordained of old.”[96] He is saying it is a from a long, long time ago. “Yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”[97]
Do you see that? Hell. What do we learn here? Hell is the culmination of God’s anger. I mean, the flaming fire of his rage and wrath is what hell is. It is not separation from God. It is being right smack dab in the middle of God’s wrath and anger.
Turn to Revelation 14. We have got to hurry. We are running out of time. But turn to Revelation 14.
Let me read this for you. John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”[98] Never going to die. Breathe your last breath and be in the presence of God in heaven. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”[99] That is what hell is, God’s wrath, God’s flaming fire of his anger we read about in Isaiah 30 through 31. “The breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.”[100]
Wow. But look at Revelation 14. And let me turn there myself. We will begin reading at verse number 10. The Bible reads...I’m sorry. Look at verse number nine to get the context. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.”[101]
Remember Isaiah 30:33? Remember John 3:36?
...which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.[102]
No rest.
Did you know that it is a torture method to keep people awake? In places where people have been in concentration camps or maybe Vietnamese prison camps part of the torture many times is sleep depravation. There is torture when somebody is about to fall asleep and you wake him up. They are about fall asleep again. You wake them up. Imagine no rest.
Boy, isn’t it good to go to sleep and rest? Boy, there is nothing like after a hard day or out in the Phoenix sun, in the heat of the sun and it just feels like it is just aching your whole body and draining every ounce of moisture out of your body. And you are weary and tired. And sometimes you put your head on the pillow, that pillow feels so good. I mean, you would rather be laying in that bed and on that pillow. And I feel this way a lot. You would rather be there than being on any sandy beach in the world, riding on any roller coaster. The only thing that you want, better than any mean is you want to put your head on that nice cool pillow.
And I remember what Jeremiah said, “My sleep was sweet unto me.”[103] Because he had been awake and so tired he talked about.
And, boy, sweet rest...and what ever happened in the day you can just kind of lay it to rest. His mercies are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.[104] Lamentations chapter three. You can lay your head down on your pillow and it is all over. You can rest.
In hell there is no rest, day nor night, never to rest again.
Hell is a place of dismal darkness. “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”[105] Reserved? A reservation?
Well, the Bible said, “He shall have his part, his part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death.”[106]
Blackness of darkness. Darkness, I believe, like it says in the book of Exodus which may be felt.[107] Do you remember that? You could feel the darkness. That is from Exodus the ninth plague.
Hell is a place of screaming and wailing. The Bible says, “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot...”[108] to a place kind of like I talked about that closet. You can’t really get around much. You can’t move around too much because you are bound in chains. The Bible says, “Reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”[109]
But he says, “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.”[110] Referring to the lake of fire that is, referring to the new location of hell when it is going to be away from the earth, it is going to be in outer darkness where hell is relocated, Revelation 20. “There shall be,” in that place, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”[111] Men are going to be gnawing their tongues in pain, grinding their teeth and wailing.
The word “wailing” is just...it is not just a scream, it is like a wail. It is something that...see, screaming doesn’t really involve your vocal cords. Wailing is more of a...something where you are vocalizing almost like saying something, but you are not saying anything. You are just.... It is a horrible sound. Imagine listening to the wails.
Have you ever been in the...I remember when my wife was giving birth in the hospital with our first child. You could hear wailing down the hall from other women who were giving birth. And you could hear the mixture of a couple of different people screaming and wailing. Imagine being in hell and there is hundreds and thousands and millions of people wailing around you, screaming.
Not only that, but hell is a place—believe it or not—of flesh eating worms. The Bible says in Isaiah 14 verse 11, it says, “The worm is spread under thee…the worms cover thee.”[112] He is talking about hell. It is a place where you are covered in worms that are... The Bible says the worm shall feed sweetly on thee.[113]
You see, hell is a place of horrific creatures. Did you know that there are living creatures in hell? Please remember Revelation chapter nine. God opens up the bottomless pit. Actually he sends the angel to the bottomless pit, Apollyon or Abaddon which is not the devil. I proved that from the Bible many times. The devil is thrown in hell by Apollyon in chapter 20, you know, the angel of the bottomless pit and he has the key and open s it up. So it can’t be the same person.
The angel of the bottomless pit opens up and do you remember those locusts that come out of the bottomless pit in Revelation 12 and torment men on the earth five months? Remember the tails like scorpions and the teeth like lions and the have breast plates and they go around and they have the sting is in their tails and they torment men. That is just giving people on this earth a taste of hell beneath because those creatures were already n hell.
Horrible tormenting locusts, flesh eating worms. “Their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”[114] It is explained in Isaiah 14, in the same book where the quote comes from, Isaiah 66:24 where it talks about, “Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”[115] He explains earlier about worms covering you, feasting on you, feeding sweetly on you.[116]
A place of horrific creatures and flesh eating worms, no rest day or night, screaming, wailing darkness, fire.
You say, “Why preach on hell?”
And I have much more to my sermon, but I am going to close with this.
Why preach on hell? You know, and I make reference to hell a lot in my sermons. This is only the second time I have ever spent a whole sermon. I have spent half a sermon a couple of times where I talked about heaven and hell and doctrine and, you know. Only the second time just a whole sermon on hell. Why?
“Why, pastorAnderson?”
Everybody who is here is probably saved and on their way to heaven, you know. We all believe in Jesus. After all, church is for the believer, not for unsaved people. I mean, we go out and get them saved. But church is to edify the believer. Why preach on hell? Why think about something so awful? Why go there in our minds? Why... I mean we are not going to go there. Why comprehend it?
Because this week I spent some time thinking about hell. It came into my mind for some reason. And as I thought about hell this week I just realized the need to just give it all to God, I mean, my whole life and just say, “You know what? People are going to hell. We have got to get them the gospel.”
I mean it is just to give you the urgency. And I am not up here, you know, I am not up here just blowing a whole bunch of hot air. Hey, I was out yesterday. I was out knocking doors. And guess what? I was out last week and the week before that and the week before that and the week before that for the last almost 10 years now. I mean, I started soul winning when I just turned 17 years old. I am going to be 27 in July. I have spent almost a decade of weekly for hours a week knocking the doors in addition to friends , co workers...
I am not up here just rattling my cage. I am not up here as some kind of a silver tongued orator. I am not up here just trying to...to preach a great sermon and well I am just going to [?] hey. I am going to be there knocking the doors. I am going to be on the front lines. I am going to be in the trenches. I am inviting you to go with me. And many of you, you have already been with me. I mean, 90% of our church was out in [?] practically, you know, a lot of what...well, not really 90% of our church, but a lot of people were out.
It seemed like everybody was there, you know? I mean a lot of people were there. Hey, it was great. But do you know what? You don’t want to just go out one time and just be a weekend warrior one time. I am going to tell you something. I moved toPhoenix for one reason two and a half years ago. I didn’t have any family here. I didn’t have a job here. I had no reason to come here except one, to give my life to one thing.
“This one thing I do,”[117] as Paul said. One thing, to give my life to preach the gospel to every creature and to train you and any body else I can to do the same thing. That is what this church is about. And I will teach you everything in the Bible to the best of my ability. I mean we will give you a well rounded meal here. You will get doctrine. You had better know you will get doctrine. You will get Bible teaching. You will get encouragement. You will get edification. You will get strength. You will get the truth from Genesis to Revelation, but you better k now that the one thing that is kind of pulsing, it is the real heart beat of our church, the one thing that is pushing us forward all the time is what being in the heart of Jesus, I believe what [?] I believe when John leaned on Jesus’ breast and he could hear the heartbeat of Jesus Christ I think it beat the Son of man to come and is come to seek and to save that which is lost. The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. [118] I must work the works of my Father while it is yet day. The nigh cometh when no man can work.[119] The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.[120] Even as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.[121] Go ye therefore into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature.[122]
Do you want to know the heartbeat of faithful work at this church?
“See, I don’t understand why people go to that church anyway. The pastor screams and yells. He preaches all this crazy stuff that nobody has even heard of. I mean he thinks everything is wrong. I mean anything you have ever...anything that people do, TV, movies, rock music, worldliness, women that are dressed immodest, I mean he goes down the list. I mean the guy is insane. He says it is wrong for women to wear pants. I mean he thinks that men are the boss in their home. I mean, he preaches things I have never even heard. He is a mad man. Why would anybody go to that church to get a brow beating? Why would they go to that church that is using the old King James Bible? Why would anybody go to that church where the music is old fashioned?
I’ll tell you why people come to this church. The same reason I joined an independent fundamental Baptist church when I was 17 years old. It wasn’t the music. It wasn’t the preaching. It wasn’t the standards. It wasn’t the radical preaching? And it was there. But that is not what got me to join. It was the heartbeat of Faithful Word Baptist Church and it was the heartbeat of the church that I joined at that time, just beat soul winning, soul winning, win souls, win souls, win souls, love people. They are going to hell. We have got to get them the gospel. It is the driving force.
But, you know, sometimes the sermon is not always the best sermon in the world. Sometimes it is not the most entertaining sermon in the world. Sometimes it is entertaining. Sometimes it is not. Sometimes you want to go to church. Sometimes you might not. Sometimes you are healthy and feel good. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you are joyful and rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of great glory, sometimes you are not. Sometimes you are I heaviness because of manifold temptation and sometimes you are not.
But there is one thing that never changes in this church. The preaching may go along different themes. The membership may fluctuate up and down in numbers of attendance. But one thing never changes here. It is the week in, week out day after day win souls, win souls, win souls, win souls. It never changes. It never stops. Consistency, week after week. Day in day out.
When you are tired of it and you say, “Well, I am tired of church.” This is a phase that I was going through.
But you know what? One thing that is not a phase is hell and soul winning and the gospel. That is what keeps me going. You know what I mean? That is what is keeping me going. I mean, it is not preaching that keeps me going. What keeps going is soul winning. That is what keeps me going. I’m just being honest. I mean the thing that keeps me going is soul winning. I mean that is the thing that keeps it real to me. That is the thing that keeps me motivated because it is never...it is a job that is never going to be done until I breathe my last breath. It is the job that I am going to work on.
All those maps...
You say, “What kind of a stupid decoration is that? A bunch of maps?”
You know what kind of a stupid decoration it is? It is where I am going to spend the rest of my life. It is a map ofPhoenix, a giant map ofPhoenix. I will spend the rest of my life making sure that we knock every single door in the whole valley. The map ofArizona? Spending the rest of my life making sure that we knock every small town inArizona, knock every door like we did in [?] yesterday. We are going to go back and finish a few doors, but we knocked 80% of the town. And we will finish it. You know, we will go down with a few people and just finish the remainder. Knock every door in every small town inArizona that is under, say, 2000 people or 3000 people in number. We’ll knock...that is what I am going to give my life to.
You know why there is a map of theUnited States out there? That map represents the fact that we are going to send out young men and men to go start churches all acrossAmerica because the local church should beget after its own kind other local churches. Just like I started this church here, I am not talented. I’m not anybody special. I am just a man like anybody else. I hope that many young men will come out of this church some day and go start churches all across that map. We will put their face on every place that they started to say, “There is a lighthouse, there is a candle stick of the gospel.”
And then the map of the world to represent the people that we support as missionaries around the world. And so that the gospel can go to the dark corners of the earth. That’s why I have the verses that say, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both inJerusalem.”[123] That’s the map ofPhoenix. “And in allJudaea.”[124] That’s the map ofArizona. Every small town, every village as Jesus went to every village. “And inSamaria,”[125] The adjacent, the area around it, the other states the [?]America. “And unto the uttermost part of the earth.”[126]
We are never going to finish, folks. It is never going to be over. Soul winning, soul winning, soul winning.
Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, it was an unpleasant sermon. It wasn’t one that I even wanted to preach. It is not the funnest kind of sermon to preach at all. It’s a horrible sermon. But, God, you took me on a tour earlier this week of hell and I just felt like I needed to take my people on the same tour of hell that I took a few day ago. Driving in my car I took a little tour a few days ago of hell just in my mind and in the Bible. And, God, I just felt like if...if I was going to be in one accord with my people that they might have to take the same tour that I took and look around at the same sights that I saw.
God, please just help it to be real to us. Help us to realize that David Letterman and Jay Leno just aren’t that funny. The sitcoms and the TV shows and the movies just aren’t that cool. The rock music just isn’t that great anymore when we realize that there is a far greater purpose for our lives; to win souls to Jesus Christ.
Oh what a glorious day it is going to be. I can’t wait to get to heaven. Man, I am excited about seeing Jesus. But do you know what? Almost as much as I am excited about seeing Jesus I feel like I already know Jesus because I got the Bible right here. I mean, it is pretty much the same thing, the Word made flesh is Jesus.
But, God, almost as much as I am excited about seeing Jesus, I can’t wait to personally see every person that I have won to Christ. That’s the one...that is what heaven his. It is not the golden streets. It is not the golden streets. It is not the pearly gates that I am looking for. I am looking forward to putting my hand in the hand of every single person that I have won to Christ in my life and shaking their hand and looking them in the eye and knowing that Jesus and I, we are co laborers together and that person is in heaven because of my life and that my life meant something to God. That is what heaven is to me. It is going to be see Jesus and to see every person that I have won to Christ. What a glorious day that is going to be, Father.
Help us to live our lives with eternity’s values in view, forget the things that are seen which are temporal and think about the things that are eternal, dear God, and to love you supremely, take inventory of every part of our life. We love you and in Jesus’ name I pray.
