Man, that's good. I'm telling you, this place will come up in a shout one day. It's going to scare most of you to death.
That's good stuff. Thank you so much for the music.
If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter 3.
John chapter 3, probably the greatest passage in Scripture,
at least the most well-known, was
spoken first to a
Jewish ruler that went to Jesus to find out more information.
He snuck to him in the night,
probably
so that he could have some spiritual exploration,
check things out without being seen
by his friends and colleagues,
keeping them from knowing it.
And it was in that conversation that Jesus told Nicodemus
in John 3, 16 and 17,
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only son
that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his son into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved
through him.
For the last three months,
we've been studying the reality of eternity.
And for the last month,
we've been studying the brutal realities of hell.
I love preaching on heaven.
It makes people feel good,
and they appreciate it.
I tried to clarify some myths that Christians have
about dying and about heaven,
and it reminds us of what we had to look forward to.
That's when we preach about heaven.
Preaching about hell is a whole different place.
Literally.
To preach on it,
light some people's fire,
and they say,
Hey, let them have it, preacher.
Like that kind of preaching.
While others think you're a jerk.
Because the reality is stark,
the finality is harsh,
and the concept is horribly beyond us.
To think about it much will make sure Christians,
will be sure to make some Christians nervous,
and it should.
But it also shouldn't.
If you have a doubt about your salvation,
and you know that you've never really surrendered
your life to Christ,
I don't preach on the reality of hell to make you nervous,
but it ought to make you nervous.
It ought to.
Life is short,
and hell is real.
However,
if you know that you're saved,
you don't have to be concerned about any chance
of you facing hell.
Please understand that salvation is more than just
raising your hand when nobody's looking.
That is,
except God,
he sees it,
and the preacher,
and then there's always a few people that's peeking,
in case y'all didn't know it.
All right.
Raising your hand does not save you.
I don't remember a time in Scripture,
somebody will point out a Scripture when I'm done,
probably,
when I'm wrong,
but where Jesus asked somebody to raise their hand
when nobody was looking.
And that's why I don't do it.
But please also understand that salvation
is also not repeating a prayer after someone.
Mimicking someone does not make you a Christian.
I took introductory classes.
I took several classes in Hebrew in seminary,
and when I took the introductory classes,
it was overwhelming.
A Hebrew Bible starts at the back,
and it reads from right to left.
It's a whole different concept.
The consonants look like characters,
but the vowels are just points,
just period-looking things
that are above the letter or below the letter,
and so when you read Hebrew,
you read it backwards,
and you kind of zigzag through it
to find the vowels that are in it.
It can be overwhelming.
I would say it's a language of the devil,
but it's not
because most of the Old Testament
is written in Hebrew,
so I can't say that.
But when I went through seminary,
there was no Internet, okay?
So I know that that shocks
the vast majority of you millennials
that there was a time when there was not,
but you couldn't just look something up like that.
So I spent hours translating
by taking the Bible text,
put it on a copy,
or blowing it up
to where it's 8 1⁄2 by 11 sheet of paper,
so I had enough space between the lines
to write what the translation was,
how to parse the verbs,
and go through that whole process
that we were asked to do for class,
and then in class,
we were to take the Hebrew Bible in our hand,
and we were to translate it
when he called on us.
Well, I left my Hebrew Bible on the desk,
and I took that 8 1⁄2 by 11 sheet of paper,
and I tucked it right under that Bible,
and so when he called on me to say it
in introductory Hebrew,
I would read what I had written the night before
in a broken kind of slow kind of,
I didn't mind if he thought I was remedial.
It didn't bother me at all.
I didn't want him calling on me
cold turkey about something,
and so, and that's kind of how I got through it.
Now, did that make me a Hebrew scholar?
No, but I said the words
that I had written the night before,
and therefore I got through the translation.
That's kind of what I thought of
when I thought about
somebody repeating a prayer
along with everybody else
and hoping that it stuck.
You're not saved when you're praying
somebody else's prayer.
It's not the way it works.
You're saved when you admit you're a sinner,
when you need a Savior,
and when you surrender your life to Christ,
that his way is the only way for my life.
Following a friend down the aisle
does not bring salvation, folks.
Surrendering to Christ is what brings salvation,
and I think you have to be adamant
to make sure we know what we're doing.
What horrifies me more about the Baptist faith,
honestly, and the Baptist church
is that manipulative tactics in the past
have caused people to raise their hand
when nobody was looking
or repeat something after somebody,
and nothing ever came of that.
There was no fruit bore in their life.
There's no evidence of their salvation,
and they think because something they did
at 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
that they never followed up on
and never did anything with,
that they're safe.
If we were to knock on doors today,
most people wouldn't answer the door,
but if we were
and were to ask that question,
do you know the Lord Jesus?
They may not know how to answer that,
but if you say,
are you saved?
They'd say, yeah, what happened?
And they'd tell you.
So that's why I think it's so important
that anybody that makes a decision,
we make sure that we thoroughly
go through that with them
and help them to understand that.
Now, if you know that you've surrendered
your life to Christ,
and you know that you're a Christian,
then why are we talking about hell?
I mean,
what is to come from having a conversation
about the reality of hell
with people who are secure in their salvation?
How does the reality of hell
change anything for the Christian?
Well, if that's your question,
I'm glad you ask,
because I want to talk about that this morning.
For the Christian,
who knows that you've surrendered your life
to the Lord,
the reality of hell,
due to the reality of hell,
we ought to be godly.
We ought to be godly.
We ought to live for the Lord.
Put even more simply,
we need to stop sinning.
I want you to listen to what Jesus says about it,
and especially if you're not familiar with his passage,
I want you to brace yourself, okay?
It's in Matthew chapter 5,
verse 29 and 30,
and Jesus says,
if your right hand causes you to sin,
excuse me,
your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
For it's better that you lose one of your members
than your whole body be thrown into hell.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off.
Throw it away.
For it's better that you lose one of your members
than your whole body go to hell.
Now, first off, men,
keep your pocket knife in your pocket, okay?
Let me explain something to you.
Jesus didn't mean this literally.
And if there's any man in here
that says he believes the Bible
is literally true all the time,
and he has two eyes,
he's lying, okay?
If he's familiar with this passage.
Jesus does not mean this literally.
He uses hyperbole here,
he uses exaggeration here,
to get across a point,
and his point is,
stop sinning.
Stop going to the places
where you're prone to sin.
Stop looking at the stuff
that leads you to sin.
Stop thinking on the things
that throw you off.
Stop it.
As the great theologian Barney Fife said,
nip it in the bud.
Nip it in the bud
and go to extreme measures
to nip it in the bud.
When there's a pattern of sin
in your life,
you're living like one
going to hell.
An indication of our salvation
is one who's walking
in a pattern of obedience
for the Lord.
Following the Lord.
Not perfectly,
but getting better at it.
That's what sanctification process is.
And an indication of lostness
when there's no change
in your life.
You can go to a scary
Christian presentation
or some other judgment house
kind of display
and get the woolly scared
out of you,
but if your life doesn't change,
it does not speak of salvation.
It brings life change.
Therefore, Christian,
if you want the assurance
that you're truly saved
and walking with the Lord,
nip it in the bud.
Stop sinning.
If the thought of hell
does not help you stop sinning,
you need to evaluate
what it means
to have Christ as Lord
in your life.
Be godly.
Second thing is,
due to the reality of hell,
we ought to be serious.
We ought to be serious.
Hell is nothing to play with,
and because hell is real,
life is nothing to play with.
How shall a Christian live?
Listen to Romans 12.
The Apostle Paul put it this way.
Beginning in verse 1,
he said,
I appeal to you,
therefore, brothers,
by the mercies of God
to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed
to this world,
but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind
that by testing
you may discern
what is the will of God,
what is good
and acceptable
and perfect.
For by the grace
given to me,
I say to everyone
among you
not to think of himself
more highly
than you ought to think,
but to think,
and get this,
with sober judgment,
each according
to the measure of faith
that God has assigned.
So in other words,
we're to live our lives
set apart for the Lord.
That's what holy means,
is to be set apart
for the purposes of God.
We are to be sacrificial
to the Lord.
I always say,
Christ don't want you
to die for him,
he wants you to live for him.
And that's what it means
to be a living sacrifice
for the Lord.
Not through our death,
but through our life.
We should not conform
to the ways of the world,
but allow the truth
of God's way
to guide our lives.
He will renew
an old warped mind
by the application
of his word
in our lives
and by the power
of the Holy Spirit of God.
He will show us
what is right.
He will show us
what is not.
Lastly,
in verse 3,
it says that we ought
to think soberly.
We ought to use
sober judgment.
Now that means two things.
One is,
it means we ought
to be sober.
Few things compromise
the Christian life
and the Christian testimony
like alcohol.
It'll ruin your career,
it'll ruin your family,
it'll ruin your reputation,
it is a strong tool
in the toolbox
of the evil one.
Nobody has ever been
benefited spiritually
from drinking alcohol.
And most are hindered by it
because they drank it.
And my advice is
just stay away from it.
But the reality is
this speaks of a lot more
than just a sobriety.
As a matter of fact,
it speaks of being
serious minded
about the things of God.
And to be honest,
I really believe
that this passage
when it speaks
of being sober minded
speaks more
to being serious minded
than it speaks
to sobriety.
But I have strong feelings
about sobriety
and because I've seen
too many lives
ruined by alcohol,
anytime I get a chance
I'll clean me out of spot
and say something about it.
Because the reality is
it does nothing
for you beneficial
in your walk with the Lord.
And it'll also lead
other people astray
if it don't adversely
affect you.
The reality of what
he's saying is
if you're not sober,
you're not serious.
And you need to be serious.
We ought to be somber
and serious
about the things of God.
Now, when do you get
serious about things?
I'll tell you when
you get serious about things.
You get serious about things
when time is pressing.
When the pressure is on.
When a job needs to get done.
That's when the pressure's on.
And I'll just tell you, friend,
it's time.
It's time to live
spiritually alert.
It's time to live on task.
It's time to live
fully dedicated.
Hell is ready
and people are headed there.
And so let's respond accordingly.
Let's be godly.
Let's be serious.
Due to the reality of hell,
let's be timely.
Let's be timely.
Take advantage of the time
that we have.
We don't have much time.
Now, you may have more than me
and I may have more than you
and I don't know how much time
is not much,
but think about it this way.
95 million people
will die this year.
Every second,
three people slip into eternity.
Within the time that I preach
this sermon,
and you can do the math
if you want to know
how long I'm going to preach,
4,000 people
will have gone to a place
of everlasting beauty
and bliss
are into an eternal hell.
And if the words of Christ
are true,
and they are,
if wide is the road
that leads to destruction
and narrow is the gate,
as Jesus said,
most of the 4,000
that will die
while I'm preaching
will go to hell.
Most of them.
we have to take advantage
of the time that we have,
however long it is.
We need to get our lives straight.
We need to help others
through their journey
and help for the cause of Christ,
pointing folks to him
while we have time.
Be timely.
As well,
due to the reality of hell,
we ought to be grateful.
We ought to be grateful.
If you're a Christian,
you have acknowledged
that you are a sinner
in need of a Savior.
You're also fully aware
that you continue to sin,
but for the grace of God
would have had hell to pay.
But thank God for his grace.
So let's never forget that.
But instead,
let's live in response to that.
St. Patrick is the man
that St. Patrick's Day
is named after.
He's a good man.
Saw a poem that he wrote
that I wanted to read.
And so I got to wondering,
how could such a good man
be what St. Patrick's Day
is named after?
I got to researching that
and found out that
St. Patrick's Day
is a celebration of Christianity
coming to Ireland.
And in order to properly celebrate that,
they lift the limits of Lent
for a day
so they can properly celebrate.
And that's why they're
turning rivers green
and all that stuff,
you know.
That's why it's become
a drunken mess.
But in reality,
the man, St. Patrick,
was a missionary
and a bishop in Ireland.
Never canonized as a saint
by the Catholic Church,
but he was called saint
out of respect
and out of reverence.
And there's a poem
that's attributed to him
that got my attention.
It says this,
God be in my head
and in my understanding.
God be in my eyes
and in my looking.
God be in my mouth
and in my speaking.
God be in my heart
and in my thinking.
God be at mine end
and at my departing.
Gratitude leads to an effort
to make God
the center of all of our lives
and to realize
that all that you are
and all that you have
is in him.
We get most of our understanding
of hell
from the words of Christ
and they are inadequate
to describe
the horrors of hell.
Not because Jesus is inadequate
in anything,
but because we're inadequate
to understand an eternity
that is beyond us.
But he understands
and he knows what it means
to be separated from the Father
because he was on the cross.
He's drank the cup
of the wrath of God
and tasted its bitterness.
He's endured
the agonizing pain.
The Lord has laid on Christ
the iniquity of us all.
God did not spare his son,
but had him experience
the fury of judgment
of God's holiness.
1 Peter chapter 4
and Ephesians chapter 4
tells us that in the period
in which Christ died,
between the cross
and the empty tomb,
that Christ went to hell
for us.
He took the horror
so we don't have to.
And that's worth more
than just some sentimental pause,
more than just a bowing
of the head,
more than just a solemn moment
of silent reflection.
That is worth a life
that is marked
by gratitude
because outside of Christ
we have no hope.
As the Apostle Paul put it
in Galatians chapter 6
verse 14,
but far be it from me
to boast
except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do the realities of hell.
We ought to be grateful
and it ought to show.
And lastly,
due to the reality of hell,
we ought to share Jesus.
Do you believe in hell?
How much does it mean to you
that people avoid hell?
People that you love,
people that you live with,
people that you relate to,
people that you work with,
people that you recreate with,
how much difference does it make?
I read this
and I thought about it
a lot this week.
Paul said in Romans chapter 9
that he wished
that he would be accursed
and cut off from Christ
for the sake of his brothers
and those related to him.
What a statement.
He's saying I'd go to hell
if it would save
the souls of others.
And I'm just going to tell you,
after we spent a month
detailing hell,
how many of us could say
with Paul,
I'd rather go to hell
than others go?
How many of us could say that?
I'll just be honest with you.
I could say it about a few people.
I could say it about my family.
Thank God the ones I'm thinking of
are the ones that are saved,
praise God.
And he goes on in that chapter
to say in that chapter
that all will not be saved.
And then he follows that up
with Romans chapter 10.
And in Romans chapter 10,
beginning in verse 9,
he said this,
if you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes
and is justified,
and with the mouth one confess
and is saved.
For the scripture says,
everyone who believes in him
will not be put to shame.
For there's no distinction
between Jew and Greek,
for the same Lord is Lord of all,
bestowing his riches on all
who call on him.
For everyone who calls upon
the name of the Lord
will be saved.
How then will they call on him
in whom they've not believed?
Get this.
And how are they to believe in him
of whom they've never heard?
And how are they to hear
without somebody preaching?
And how are they to preach
unless they're sent?
As it is written,
how beautiful are the feet
of those who preach the good news.
But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
For Isaiah says,
Lord, who has believed
what he has heard from us.
So faith comes from hearing
and hearing through
the word of God.
He goes on to quote Isaiah
in Romans chapter 10, verse 20.
It says,
Then Isaiah is so boldly
as to say,
I have been found by those
who did not seek me.
I have shown myself to those
who did not ask for me.
Leave that up a moment
because I want you to see that.
Isaiah said,
I realize God sent me to folks
that didn't seek me out.
They didn't ask me spiritual questions.
God sent me to them.
I've shown myself to those
who didn't ask that for me.
Don't wait for somebody
to ask a spiritually exploring question
for you to share Christ with them.
They're dead in their transgressions
and sins.
Allow the Holy Spirit
to use you to wake them up
with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have a responsibility
to share the gospel.
Isaiah says,
I showed up in people's lives
that were not expecting me.
I shared with many folks
that did not ask.
People's eternity
is based upon our faithfulness.
There were places
Jesus went
where he did little work
because they didn't have the faith
for him to work there.
Scripture says that.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer
was a Presbyterian pastor,
a writer, and theologian,
and he was visibly moved
by the thought of hell.
He was meeting
with some college students
in Switzerland
and discussing these things.
When a young man
asked him a question,
he said,
Dr. Schaeffer,
what about those
who've never heard the gospel?
They waited.
They paused
for a brilliant answer.
And instead,
he didn't say a word.
He just bowed his head
and wept.
God chose to use us
as instruments
to bring people to the Lord.
He can save them
without us.
But why should he?
When he has lived for us,
he's died for us,
he's rose for us,
he's empowered us,
he's commissioned us
to go in his name
and to share in eternity
changing gospel.
So what if reality of hell
is really true
as scripture says it is
as I believe?
If it is Christian,
because hell is real,
let's be godly.
Because hell is real,
let's be serious.
Because hell is real,
let's be timely.
Let's make the most
of our time.
Let's be grateful.
Let's be sharing Jesus.
Because doing so
makes an eternity
of difference.
With every head bowed
and every eye closed,
I just want you to think
about something
for just a moment.
I want you to be honest
with God.
Can you rest in the fact
that you've come
to the point in your life
where you know
that you have eternity?
You know that you've
given your heart and life
to the Lord
and you go into heaven
when you die.
Hell hangs in the balance.
And that's not a threat,
it's not a scare,
it's just the truth.
So I encourage you,
if there's any uncertainty
in your life
about your salvation,
respond as we stand
in the moment.
Let's have a conversation
about that.
Let's deal with that.
Maybe you're here
this morning
and you know
that you are a Christian.
You know that you've
given your heart and life
to the Lord,
but you've never
publicly acknowledged Him.
You've never let others
know what God's done
in your life.
And Christ,
by His example
and by His commission,
tells us
that we ought to
let others know
about our private decision
publicly
through baptism.
If you've never done that,
I encourage you
to come this morning.
We'll line that up,
take care of that.
Maybe, in fact,
God's drawing you
to this congregation.
You've worshipped with us
and you realize
that this is the place
that God would have you
to serve
alongside us.
If that be the case,
I encourage you to come.
If you have questions,
let's talk.
Let's set up a time
to talk about that.
Maybe you're here
this morning
and you do know
you're a Christian,
but you're like me.
You're weighed down
about folks
that don't know the Lord.
Maybe God's laid somebody
upon your heart today.
Will you ask Him
to just give you the words,
empower you,
to speak up,
to make a difference
in their lives?
And if God's not
put anybody
on your heart and mind,
would you do me
a favor today
and would you say,
Lord,
will you lay somebody
on my heart
that might need the Lord?
Will you help me
to walk through
the doors of obedience
and grow
because I've simply
followed you
and obeyed you?
Man,
what a difference
we could make
and pickings
in our surrounding area
if we'd share
our faith
for the Lord Jesus Christ
faithfully.
Lord Jesus,
I love you
and I thank you
for the opportunity
that you give us
to rest in you,
dear God.
I'm thankful,
Lord,
that even though
hell is real,
salvation is even more real
and I'm thankful
that we can rest
in that today.
I pray that every one
of us will
and if there's one
struggling,
or one needs
to make a decision,
Lord,
I pray that you'll
give them direction today.
The boldness
to step forward
as you lead,
dear God,
to just simply
follow your will
and your way.
We love you.
Thank you for what
you're about to do
in our midst right now.
In Jesus' precious name,
amen.