It's still the blood that saves from sin. It's still the blood that cleanses within. From the highest star in heaven to the depths of the sea, it is still the blood of Jesus that brings victory to thee. ♪ Many hills and many mountains ♪ Its tired fields have dried up ♪ So often I wonder will they reach heaven's sky? ♪ Oh but I knew the answer when I stepped in Jordan's streets ♪ It'll be worth it all to me ♪ All the beauties of swimming ♪ Before my eyes I can see ♪ There stands Jesus and there's no man When I crossed that river, it was worth it all to me. ♪ Now I've changed from rags to a robe of white ♪ And my shoes, they're made of gold ♪ A glorious street, the Lord is leading me ♪ All is new, there's nothing old ♪ We've just stopped ♪ Before my mansion my name's inscribed above the door ♪ For just today it was completed ♪ And now I'll live here forevermore ♪ When I crossed that river ♪ It was worth it all to me ♪ All the beauty's outstanding ♪ Before my eyes I could see ♪ There stands Jesus and there's prophets, they've been waiting When I crossed that river, it was worth it all to me. When I crossed that river, it was worth it all to me. ♪ All the beauties of heaven ♪ Before my eyes I could see ♪ There stands Jesus and there's mom and dad I crossed that river. It was worth it all to me. Thank you. Beginning in verse number 38. If you have a Bible in your hand, you're doing it the right way. If you don't have a Bible with you, there's one in the pew in front of you. Of all the things that are going to take place today, there are lots of important ones, but there is nothing that is more important than the Word of God. And so we're going to honor the Word of God today by standing and reading, beginning in verse 38 in Mark chapter number 9. The Bible says, And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us. And we forbade him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast into the sea. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, under the fire that shall never be quenched, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if I 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 the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if I eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt hath lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another. Our focus and our attention has turned to our next portion of scripture in Mark chapter number nine. This portion of scripture and what we're going to be preaching on this morning, I will say, unfortunately, is a controversial topic. It ought not to be and it won't be as long as the Lord allows me to stand in this pulpit and pastor this church It will not be a controversial topic in this church. It may be for you May be controversial for you But it will not be controversial according to what this says. It will not be controversial according to the truth of God's Word. A Pew Research study, examination of numbers, has shown that every sermon posted in a single year back in the early 2020s, every sermon posted that they could find and was able to examine, that only 8% of those sermons had a mention of hell. Only 8%. Only 10% of the people who were surveyed of church goers, these are not people walking the street, of church goers, 10% believe in a literal hell. So when I say this is a controversial topic, if you believe in a literal heaven, 76% of church goers believe in a literal heaven. 10% of churchgoers believe in a literal hell. That's why this has become a controversial topic, and the reason why only 8% of sermons mention hell. Well folks, we're gonna make up for that 10% this morning. We're gonna have a whole lot of talk about hell this morning, and ever since you've walked in from the time you stepped foot into the lobby, hell has been all around you today. I don't want your mind to venture off of a literal hell today. We have done everything that we can in this world to diminish hell, to take hell away. Our scholars, our theologians, our universities want you to believe that it's some mythical, magical place, but I'm here to tell you this more, that hell is not a metaphor. Hell is not just a good idea to scare your kids. It's not a parable. It's not a figure of speech, nor is it a state of mind. Hell is a real place. and biblical evidence. I promise you I don't have the time in this setting to go over all the information that we need to go over. The best I can figure with the amount of information that I do have from these last days and weeks of preparing for this, this would be in no less a four to five part sermon just to connect all the dots through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation of a literal hell. What I will ask you this morning is trust me. Trust me that hell is real. I'm a preacher. I'm saved. I'm all right. I don't know why I need to be in church and hear a message about hell. I'm not going there. I ask you if the number on the screen behind me bothers you. If you'll notice, since I got here this morning, Every one minute, a hundred souls have opened their eyes in hell. According to the best research and statistics, 118 people die every minute around the world. According to research, less than 10% of the population claim to be born again by the blood of Jesus Christ. If the Bible is true, And everybody raised their hand a moment ago saying you believe in a literal heaven. We must believe that the Bible is true. If we believe that, then the only way to heaven is through the blood of Jesus Christ. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, I am the door. No man cometh to the Father but by me. If that's the case, less than 10% of those 118 that die are on their way to heaven. That means giving a little bit to statistics, I'll say 100 people every minute as we have been here today have opened their eyes in a literal hell. How many of those 100 have sat on church pews, have heard sermon after sermon, have heard a preacher, maybe in a good old-fashioned Baptist church, stomp and snort and yell about a real heaven? And they've opened their eyes. Since our service last week ended, and I said around 1230, Until today, whenever I got here, which I started the time at 6.30, I was here before that, but I started our time at 6.30. From last week at 12.30 until 6.30 this morning, over one million souls have opened their eyes in a literal burning hell. You want to talk about a message that is burdening a pastor's heart, having to deal with that. And then I look at how much I did not do in this past week to rescue one. How much I did not do to rescue one. This morning I want to do something just a little bit different. I'm going to ask all of our preachers that's here with us this morning and all of our deacons if you would to come and join me here on the front pew for our sermon this morning. And I promise you I'm not going to make you stand up and quote any scripture. I'm not going to ask you to I do the little teapot dance or anything like that. I just want you to come join me here on the front pews, brother, if you would. I'm gonna ask Brother Witson, I'm sorry you just sat down, Brother Witson, if you'd come and take a seat right here. Brother Chris, if you'd come take a seat right here for me, if you would. All the other preachers and deacons, find you a seat there on the front. Thank you for that. This will be important in just a little while. This morning, my mind was turned during this study of this. There's a book written, and I can tell you if you're worried about the clock on the wall, I ain't, not today. My mind was turned to this book, a wonderful book. Audie Murphy, most of y'all would know who that is, the most decorated soldier in American history. He was a poor sharecrop farmer from Texas. His daddy ran off when he was a young boy. His mom ended up dying. He raised his siblings until he became 17 years old, lied on his papers in order to get into the military to go fight and fight for the freedom of our country, which folks out there today are spitting on and burning flags and all the other ridiculousness that they're doing by chaining dog collars around their self and crawling down the streets of New York and California, how awful a shame that is. Men like this sacrificed their life for the freedom that we have today, but that's not the thrust of what I want to talk about this morning. It's the title of Mr. Murphy's book. to hell and back. I don't want to take one thing away from Mr. Murphy for what he did and the things that he saw with these POWs that are trapped in prison camps all over the world right now facing some of the most ungodly situations and treatments that they have to face. Things that these men and women have seen who have seen battles and things that we ought not to have to know about. But I have one thing for Mr. Murphy and for anybody else. No one goes to hell and comes back. Hell is an eternal place with no exit. So although I'm grateful for what Mr. Murphy has done, thankful that he was able to pin it down and we can live through his life and see what one man had to go through in his battle, I would have to disagree with the title. To hell and back. I pray that that is no one's thought this morning, that they've got another chance, they've got another opportunity. What if that next 100 that clicks off the board here in just a moment is yours? What if yours is coming up at 1230 while you're driving home today? Preacher, we're saved in here. This is a Sunday morning, small Baptist church. We're all saved in here. I disagree. And I disagree strongly with that. So I ask you again, maybe you are saved, but what are you doing to help that number? Another hundred just went. Another hundred opening their eyes. This morning, I want to look at a few things about hell, and I don't know, this will not be a verse-by-verse study as we would normally do in our text. This is going to be a thought, a topic, and the topic is very clear. We are preaching about hell this morning. the realness of hell, the actuality of hell, and the eternity of hell. I want to look at something in our scripture this morning, where the brown and red, there's some things that Jesus says, and I want to make sure we pull that out. Look back at verse number 43 and 44 with us, if you would. It says, and if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than have two hands and go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. How many people quote that part wrong, and say where the worm dieth not? I hate to tell you, that's not what your King James Bible says. That's what your NIV Bible says. That's what your other version of Bible might say, but the good old King James right there, Jesus said, where their worm dieth not. We'll come back to that in just a little while. This message this morning, Jesus starts as he was preaching to his disciples here, and he dealt with some things that I really wanted to talk about when he was talking to John. And he says, if they're not against us and they're with us, let them be. We can explain that at a different time, but that's not my heart this morning. And I want to come back and I want to deal with that. But I felt like after Easter last week, after the wonderful message we heard from the wits in dealing with heaven, I thought there was no better way to bookend that than today looking at these verses on hell. And this preaching that we have to do this morning is not something that is fun. I don't know that any preacher worth their salt or that loves their people or that has a burden to get the gospel out would enjoy preaching a message of this fashion or of this topic. For me, this week, it has caused some sleepless nights. For me, it has sent me to to prayer more than I have in recent weeks that I can remember. A message topic like this is not one that is for the faint of heart. But I fear this morning there are folks that are sitting in our midst that don't understand the eternity and the reality of a literal burning hell where the fire is not quenched and where your worm will die not. This is a real and literal place, and it is wrapped up in a warning of repetition in these verses. In verse number 44, in verse number 46, and in verse number 48, Jesus three times says, Where the fire is not quenched, and the worm dieth not. If Jesus says it one time, you might want to pay attention, but according to Jewish tradition, which this book is steeped in, if something is repeated three times, you might want to pay attention because it is absolute truth. He said, where the worm dieth not, where your worm dieth not, where the fire is not quenched. When Jesus said this three times, according to those men who were standing in that group, Jesus was not telling them about something. He was shouting it from the rooftop, saying this is a literal place. You would be better off into than to mutilate yourself and enter into heaven than to spend one moment in this eternal hellfire. This is what he was saying. The repetition of this speaks volumes and we just pass it by. What is this? Where is this hell? Where is the hell? I can't tell you exactly where it is. Most people say going down. The Bible refers to going down. Maybe it is at the center of the earth. I don't know where it's at, but the one thing I do know, it is somewhere. It is somewhere. And there's another hundred folks who just opened their eyes in the eternity of it. In the Old Testament, I'll try to link some of this together. In the Old Testament, there was this valley, the Valley of Hinnom. the Valley of the Sun, let me say that better, the Valley of the Sun of Hinnom. Hinnom being someone in antiquity that we don't have information about. But he apparently owned a track of land there in the area of Jerusalem. And in this valley area, he had apparently at some point, or somebody in that time frame, had set up an idol of worship to Molech in the Valley of Hinnom. And apparently, at some point, his son became the owner of this valley. And it became known as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. And there in that valley, where Molech was worshipped, all these sweet little babies you see laying here, one asleep now, and down in the nursery, and some right now in their mama's precious womb that are carrying them in here. Those little babies were taken to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and there, how they were offered as a burnt sacrifice unto the god Molech in that valley of Hinnom. Preacher, why does that matter? Well, in the Old Testament, God sent His servants there, His good men, men like Jeremiah and men like Isaiah, to preach against the idol worship and the apostasy and the evil that was going on in that valley. As a matter of fact, when He sent Jeremiah to preach against that valley, He said, you call that valley the valley of slaughter from now on. Jeremiah declared the valley of the son of Hinnom to be the valley of slaughter as he stood there and preached, as Jew after Jew would walk in, offering up of the birth sacrifice of their little baby, their little son, their little daughter. And today we say, preacher, that kind of stuff is not happening. No, but we're offering them up in the valley of sinful living. We're offering them up to the valley of let them do as they please. Let them decide where the family's gonna go to church. Let's go where they have the pizza party and the hot dog dinners. We're offering our children up on the birth sacrifice of easy believism. Why? Because I don't want to think of a literal hell, but it is a real place. The valley of Hinnom, the son of Hinnom. We connect the dots. And we trace it all the way into the New Testament. And we hear of a place called Gehenna. Gehenna is the Greek for Ge, meaning valley. It's really Gebehenna. Gebehenna, but in the Bible it's Gehenna. Ge being valley. Ben, Be being the son. And Hinnom being Hinnom. This is the same place. in which Jesus, and I'm sure the others, had passed by many times. And from the time of the Old Testament Jews, when Jeremiah stood and said, you wretched, sinful generation, bringing your children to the valley of slaughter. And that fire was still burning. Hundreds of years later, burning the dung and the dead bodies in the Valley of Gehenna. You see, Jesus had a wonderful illustrative sermon that He could preach. Some people say that He preached some of these. Not this one. We're not getting any contextual clues that they were anywhere near Gehenna in this point. As a matter of fact, they couldn't have been farther from it. And then over in Matthew, He talks again about the gates of Hades. Some people will say, well, He was near the valley of Gehenna. No, that's not the case. It's not real. Matter of fact, he was over near Caesarea Philippi, which is even farther away in the times when he was talking about hell. But it is an interesting thought, and that's all I'll say it is, Brother Whitson, is a thought that at some point he could have walked by this valley. He could have stood on the hill overlooking the black smoke, that wretched, putrid smell of burning flesh and hair that's rising out of Gehenna. And he could have told his men, As He was standing there, I want you to look, men, this is what hell is like. This is, as the thousands of years in which that flame has been burning in Gehenna, the flames of hell are still burning today, and the fire is only being stoked with another soul, and another soul, and another soul. And today we've lost our compassion about hell. We've lost the literal hell in our minds because we don't have that kind of illustrative sermon. It becomes easy to forget. And so this is the best I've got for an illustrative sermon. I don't have a fireplace. I couldn't light one in here, I guess, even if I wanted to, but the market would run me out. It's the best I've got to show you there's a literal hell. And another hundred is about to open their eyes in it. This is a real place. This place where He says, the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night in Revelation. Notice though that He says in this verse, their worm, Their worm. I had to go and look that up in the Greek because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't making up something that wasn't there. But he says, Their worm doth not, brother Harold, That little possessive noun there, that possessive pronoun, their worm, that means individual. You own it. You got it. It ain't for the group of you. It ain't for your family. It ain't for the ancestors. That means it is yours and yours alone. And when you enter into hell, you will be receiving something that they are calling a worm, and it will be your very own. What is it? What is this worm preacher? It has to be those maggots. That's what we've heard about. We wish, we wish that's what it was. But I assure you it is much worse than that. When he says their worm, This worm that he is speaking of is layered, and I want to try to give you the layers the best I can. It's layered, but it's dealing with this individual agony that you will face in a literal burning hell. not general suffering, not just there's a fire and a general worm. This is your individual agony. This is your personalized torment. This is your guilt. This is your regret. This is your memory that is gnawing at you for knowing that you heard the gospel, knowing that you rejected it. The haunting of the whisper of every altar call that rushed across your ear and you played it off word. about the lunch plan, or the afternoon date, or the night that was coming, or the game that was coming on, and you brushed it off, and that worm that will be yours, individual, will be that memory of every time that the gospel was presented unto you, and you shunned it away. It is your worm, your individual memory that you cannot get rid of. Some of us in here have memories of our past that we wish we could forget. And I've talked with many of you individually right over there in the office. And many of you said, I wish I had never done that. I wish I had never said that. I wish this was not part of my life. Oh, this is the best it will ever be. If you don't know Jesus Christ, as your personal Savior, the memory of those will haunt you and gnaw at you for an eternity, and everyone, flooding like a new memory every single time, where the worm doth not. Where the worm doth not. So how does this work, preacher? Here's how it kind of works. Follow me fast. Somebody in just a moment is going to draw their last breath in this whole body At the moment that they die The Bible says to be Absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. That's for the sake for the lost To be absent from this body Is to be present in hell They have a little bit different plight than you and I would have. Those folks, when they die, their soul is going to enter into immediate torment in what we call hell, Hades, the Gehenna. And they will be in perpetual torment, brother Cal, until after the rapture, then after the tribulation, Then after the battle of Armageddon, and then after the millennial reign, and then there will come this thing that's called the Great White Throne Judgment. If you want to know more about it, come on Sunday night. We are in a fantastic study of Revelation. At that Great White Throne Judgment, their body laying in the grave, will come about. And their soul that's been in perpetual torment are coming back together. Because every last person ever born that has drawn the breath of God in their body must stand judgment. the good thing for those of you in here are saved, you entered into the first judgment for most of you at an old-fashioned altar. When you got down, you prayed, God, forgive me of my sin. Cleanse my life. Become my Savior. Be my Lord. Be my God. I give myself wholly and wholly unto you. Your judgment was taken at that moment and placed on Calvary. But those who die without knowing Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, they have not faced the judgment, and if they don't, the Bible's a liar. Soul coming out of hell, back with the body, and there they'll stand before that great white throne of judgment. And Revelation says, I'm giving you a whole heap of doctrine right now. And the book of Revelation says that He will open up the books The books and the book of life. What are those books? I don't know exactly what those books are and anybody who tells you they know exactly what they are is lying to you and you need to protect your wallet. The Bible gives us some hints, scattered little Easter eggs all throughout the Bible. And I did the research for you. These books that will be opened have that great white throne judgment. You can find one of them in Malachi chapter number 3. And it's even said by name, the book of remembrance. What is that book preacher? Anytime you say a good word about God. Anytime you lift His name. Anytime you sing His praise. You know why it's so important in here that we kind of do that silly old fashioned thing and raise our hands and say amen and sing in the choir and lift our praise because in heaven there is some dutiful angels that's writing it down. And they said, did you hear Brother Jason Hodge? What he just said. Oh, he amened the preacher. He told God about the Savior. He said this. He did that. And there in the book of Remembrance, Jason's got his own little chapter. And some of those folks who have died not accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, when they get to their page, I'm just, this is, now this is, this is right here now. When they get to their page in that book and they'll say, well there's old Steve Smith's page. And the Lord's gonna look at him and say, Mr. Smith, you never said a good word about me. Strike one, Mr. Smith. And then he's going to go over and he's going to grab the book that we're told about in Psalm 56. The book of mourning. Because David said, isn't every tear I've ever cried been recorded in heaven? And they're going to grab that Book of Mourning. And they're going to run over to Jesus and say, Mr. Jesus, here's Mr. Smith's Book of Mourning page. And he's going to look down there and he's going to say, well, Mr. Smith, I'm sorry, but I don't see that you have ever once shed a tear over your sin. You have never once repented. You have never once cried out for a lost soul. Mr. Smith, I'm sorry, but your page in the Book of Mourning is empty. And the angel behind runs out with another book from Daniel chapter number 7. And they say, wait a minute. Jesus, here's the other book. And Jesus is going to open up the book of works that Daniel tells us about. And he's going to say, ok, Mr. Smith, let me see what you've got down on your works page. And he's going to look down. And he's going to say, well, Mr. Smith, I don't see a single good work. And Mr. Smith, he must be out of trying to arbitrate for his own dying soul. He's already tasted the flames of hell. He's going to say, Jesus, I went and sat on the pew. I gave in the offering. I went to the functions. I was in church every Sunday morning. I've got works in that book, Jesus. And he'll say, No, for some reason it's blank. And then finally, in my mind's eye, Jesus walks over, maybe to the podium right beside His throne. And there lays a book that's been laying century after century. He's going to flip over and say, Mr. Smith, I just checked the book of life. And Mr. Smith, I'm sorry to tell you that your name is not written there. Mr. Smith, that means that you will be judged. for every lack of praise, every lack of tear, and every lack of work. And after that great white throne judgment, every last one of those who were lost will then be cast into what the Bible says, the lake of fire. They will be there with the fallen angels from Jude that will be judged also over. Another hundred just went. In the book of Revelation, they then will be cast into that lake of fire. How long, preacher? Is there going to be another resurrection? I'm sorry to tell you, that's it. That has now become your eternity. Maybe a few moments of respite that you got to stand in heaven If you call it a good moment or two, only knowing that you're about to return. Have you ever been swimming? You and your sweet wife have been on vacation somewhere. Miss Kayla and I were just sitting enjoying the sun, and you're swimming around doing cannonballs and all that good stuff. maybe a little cool outside that day, and you get out of the pool, you go over, sit next to your sweetheart, eat your little sandwich or something, and then you go back to get back in the pool, and you jump back in, and that water feels like bath water. Don't it, though? I don't think this will be a time of rest, because they've been in the flames of hell, and drawn out just for a little while, and put back in. I have to believe those flames are gonna be a little bit hotter. Well, preacher, that all sounds good in fairytale land. Sounds good in fairytale land, but I don't know that that's what my plight is. Are you willing to risk your eternity on it? Are you willing to risk your eternity on that? You see, in hell, this is not preached on very often. Wouldn't be surprised if for some of us in here, it might be the first time you ever heard it. You hang out here for a while, it won't be the last. In hell, according to the Bible, not according to me, according to the Bible, there are degrees of punishment. Now, preacher, no. That is not true. The Bible doesn't say that. I beg to differ that even Jesus Himself, while giving out His warning, did He not say, Brother Johnny, that it will be more tolerable, more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah and all those others He's named and said, except for you. Because you've heard the Word, you saw the miracles, you've watched it done, and you still rejected it. They will have an easier eternity of punishment than you will. I hate to tell you this while you're sitting in the midst of a sermon about hell in the Bible Belt of America. Your hell experience will not be as tolerable as one of those folks from some third world country. who only heard the gospel once through their phone from an ad. You've sat here and spurned it. You've watched a miracle. You've seen others be saved. You've heard the word and you spurned it. And Jesus, echoing through the portals of time, saying it will be more tolerable for those than for you. There are degrees to this punishment of hell. Jesus also said, if I could use this illustration. He gives the little parable about the servant who went against his master's will. Preacher Ash is talking about doing good. Obeying those in leadership. No, no, no. He's talking about eternal punishment. He said, because for the one who disobeyed his master and knew not to, his stripes will be but the servant who did not know and disobeyed. He didn't say he's going to be accepted in. I hate to tell you, you ain't riding in because mama and daddy. And I really hate to tell you, you ain't riding in because your preacher. I wish I could take a busload with me. You'll still pay for your disobedience, but your stripes will be fewer. There are degrees to this punishment in hell. Oh, this is a place of remembrance. Over in Luke chapter number 16, if you want to turn over there, I'd encourage you to turn over there, maybe mark it down, put an asterisk next to it. Luke writes down this account for us. I'll just read a verse and a portion of a verse. This rich man in hell, talking to Abraham. I said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And send Lazarus. That was his sermon. Send Lazarus. And he might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am tormented in this flame. And look at those next few words. But Abraham said, Son, remember, your worm will not die. You will remember. Son, remember. Preacher, you're pushing this point just a little too far. Am I? 32,400 people. Am I beating a dead horse? I don't think this dead horse has been drug into many churches as of late. It might be alright if we beat this one for a few weeks. Hell is a real place. You see this man, this rich man cried out, and he said, Send Lazarus! But Lazarus was no longer his servant. He said, Have mercy! But in hell there is no mercy. He said, cool my tongue. But in hell there is no refreshing. He said, someone please go and warn my brothers. The time of warning had passed. His time was over. He asked the wrong question at the wrong time to the wrong person. And spent an eternity in hell remembering it. This is why this is so important. Hebrews says, how shall we escape? How shall we escape? Listen to that. How will you ever escape an eternity in hell if you neglect so great a salvation? That is a rhetorical question. Because you can and you won't. Hell is a place of remembrance. Hell is a place of finality. And the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever, and they have no rest, nor night, that day or night, where their worm dieth not. There's no purgatory. Don't believe what? The Catholic, there's no purgatory. No do-overs. No ending day. Heaven's joy never ends. Hell's torment never ends. You'll never hear the gospel. You'll never have another impact. You'll never be able to say, God, forgive me of my sin. One small sentence could separate you from that eternity. And yet folks will walk out today lying to themselves Lying to the people around you. But I promise you, you ain't lying to those books in heaven. Got one shot at this life. And the bad thing is, we don't know when it's going to end. Some of us in here have been athletes before. Played different sports. Baseball for me, I knew when the end was coming. High school, seven innings. College, nine innings. Basketball, three, two, one, got it. Brother Koda, last play. Let's get the snap off last play, so last chance to do it. The bad thing about this one shot that you got, you don't know when it's gonna end. You could be pushing it off for that last second shot, and your last second may run out before you get the shot off. This is a place of finality. Matthew 7 warns us that hell is also not empty and is growing day by day. Matthew 7, wide is the gate, broad is the way that leads to the church, and many there be which go thereat. 14, but straight is the gate, narrow is the way, and few, like less than 10%, few be there, find it, Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure. Isaiah wrote that down hundreds of years before Christ stepped on the scene. Many of our folks today will bicker and argue in the church. Preacher preached too long today. Message was a little dry this morning. Singing was a little off. Musicians too loud. Somebody is out of rhythm and time over there. Got the new carpet put in, didn't really like it that much. Lights are too bright, lights are too dim. Don't like the screens, take them down. I don't like preachers and ecclesiastes on Wednesday night, I just ain't gonna show up no more. Heard that one. Heaven help your soul, that's one of the 66. You may want to start liking it. We'll sit and bicker and argue over this stupid stuff in church. I told you I don't use that word often. I reserve it for things that are really stupid. And when we start arguing about budget, and 32,800 people have opened their eyes in hell, that is stupid! We need to get our focus back saved, people. and quit worrying about all these other things. We say we believe in a literal hell, but I've got a test. Got a test to figure out if people really believe in hell or not. When was the last time you witnessed to somebody? Question number one. When was the last time you were on fire? Getting into church, reading your Bible, getting your prayer life locked on to God. When was the last time? Answer those questions and you'll know where you stand on believing in a literal hell. Because if your answer is, well I come on Sunday morning, You see, people think that I harp on church attendance because I want bodies in the pews because it raises our offering and then the preacher can get his raises and salaries and all those good things. The last raise I got, I turned it down. Didn't want it. I'm not worried about the raise. I'm not worried about the money. I'm not worried about... I'm not even worried about the budget of this church. You know why? Because if we try to reach the lost and do the will of God, He will take care of this church. The gates of hell shall not prevail. I don't care what the carpet color is, how bright the lights are, how loud the music is. The gates of hell will not prevail against this church. And we worry and we bicker. I'm not worried about people in the pews. I'm worried about your soul and those dying and going to hell and those in here this morning that I know by your testimony are on your way. That's what I'm worried about. You are two different animals of dichotomy. And Brother Johnny being a man who raises dogs, if you had two dogs in the kennel and you fed one every day and starved one but once a week, what do you think is going to happen? We feed our flesh all week long. We ignore God. We ignore the Bible. We show up at 11 o'clock and hope to be up by noon and think our spiritual life is going to be fair. That, that is why I worry about the number in the pew. If God only blesses us with those 15 or so people that we had when I first came here brother Whitson. And those 15 or so people are working and doing what they could for the Lord. Bless God. But if we got 1,500 by the cow, and you got to get an FBI warrant out to find half of them, there's something going wrong. That's why this is so important. We feed the flesh. We don't feed our spirit enough. And no matter what you might be thinking this morning, we're feeding the Spirit. Hell is not just a warning for the lost, it's a wake-up call for the saved. Hell is real. And if we believe in a literal hell of remembrance and eternity and one whose gates are widening and borders are broadening, why do we not live like it? Why don't we live like Him? Why don't we witness like we believe that it's a real place? Because they'll think I'm crazy or lost my mind. Come and join the crowd, it ain't that bad. Hell has lost its weight in the church. We have better music, less mourning. We have good programming, but less pleading. We have more polished preachers. Not here. And less weeping prophets. Hell has lost its weight in our churches. Jeremiah wrote, that weeping prophet wrote, Mine eye hath affected my heart. What's he writing about preacher? He's writing about watching all them Jews take their little babies down and burn them at the altar of Molech. He said, my eyes have seen that. And I can't unsee that. I've stood and preached the funeral of a lost person before. Never forget it. Never forget it as long as I live. If we believed in a literal heaven, this pulpit would shake. This altar would be full. Our hearts would be rekindled with a fire. We'd pray different. We'd respond different. We'd be involved different. We'd witness different. Hell. Hell would silence our pettiness in the churches if it were literal in our life. But yet, we're worried about the budget. We're worried about the branding. We're worried about the program. I've heard so many times over the years. Preacher, what do you have for kids down there? What more you want? Well, we want to go to that place where they got a lot of people down there. Kids can go have fun. I will say it again. I don't care if every baby in this house is screaming while I'm preaching. Give me the opportunity to preach to them. Because I don't want not a one of these little ones screaming for an eternity in hell. I'll take it. Let them crawl under the pews. Let them kick you in your shins. That's alright. They got a good daddy enough they'll whip her hind end and get her back in line. But for a moment it'll be alright. We're just going to keep pouring the Word of God into them. I get little Johnny wakes up on Sunday and says, I want to go down to that old fuddy-duddy church. I want to go to my friend's church. It's big, it's fun, got pizza and couches everywhere. If hell was real in your life, you'd tell little Johnny to get his hind end out of the bed. get his clothes on that look respectable for the house of God. You tell your little Susie to cover her nakedness up, and we're going down to the Lord's house, and we're going to hear a message about hell. But, hell has lost its effect. It's clouded our judgment. It's infiltrated into our families. And I'll finish, can I say finish? I'll finish with this. Preach this message some time back. So I'm just going to rehash it a little bit if that's alright. Close ain't good enough. Close ain't good enough when those books are broke out. Sitting on church pew ain't going to get it. Daddy being a preacher, I just heard that testimony this week from somebody in our church that's burdened over a family member. And the family member tells them, well, daddy was a preacher. I'm sorry to tell you, close ain't good enough. Close will get you filling the flames of hell. Close, and you will be one of the next 100. That's what close gets you. That's what close gets you. In the Old Testament, Saul was given a word of warning back in 1 Samuel 15. God told him, He said, Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, not one of them. But Saul, wanting to be a diplomat, thinking that maybe the people that's left will serve me, spared Agag. Kind of kept him around as like a dog on a leash, you know? They would move their tent in their headquarters and he'd just take Agag along with him and he'd chain him up to the next pole. And they'd move again and he'd take him and chain him up to the next pole. It's just my mind, it's how my mind works, by the way, so I don't know if that's how it really happened. But one day, Agag got away. And the Amalekites rose back to power because one was spared. And out of that one came a host of people who again avenged against Saul and ended up taking his life and his son's life too. Oh, the degradation of sin in our life. Just to hang on to that one last sin in our life. Just to say, well, this little thing doesn't matter. What I do on Friday night does not matter because I go to church on Sunday morning. Be careful. Your sin will find you out. He turned over later. In Esther chapter number 3, verse number 1. The Jews are facing certain annihilation. Guess who at the hands of? Amalekites. The sin that should have been destroyed years before almost destroyed an entire nation. Preacher, this is about enough. My eyes are getting heavy and lunch is getting closer. You'll be alright. One sin left could destroy you. Pastor, I'm good. I go to church. My daddy was a preacher. I will take you to one other spot in the Old Testament, Brother Whitson. I'll just borrow your mind. I won't read you the whole thing. Over to Judges chapter number 12. Great little portion of reading. Read about the first 10 or 12 verses in Judges chapter number 12. But I just want to focus on verse 5 and 6 for a second. You see, there was a battle that went on. Jephthah, he was the reject Gileadite. He was rejected by his family. Came back, ended up leading Israel. It was one of their judges that led them out. When people hear judge, they think of a guy with a gavel on the desk. No, these were warriors. These were warriors. He came and was judge for Israel. Led them out and destroyed, I think it was the Ammonites. He destroyed the Ammonites. But they blew the trumpet for all of Israel, all the Jews, to come and fight with them. There was at least one group that didn't come fight. That was the Ephraimites. tribe of Ephraim. They didn't come. Sad thing was, they're the tribe of the warriors. They didn't come. So then later, as Jephthah and his men were traveling through the Ephraimites, this is their second time doing this, by the way. They did it to Gideon as well. The Ephraimites, they stuck their head out from under the rock and they said, hey Jephthah, we're the warriors and we didn't get to be there whenever you utterly destroyed Ammon. Jephthah said, I called you, and you didn't come. Gideon let you off scot-free last time. We're going to kill every last one of you. These are their brothers. This is civil war happening. He said, I ain't letting you off like that. He said, you're a bunch of glory hogs, and you're going to destroy us from the inside out. He said, I'm killing all of you. You either stay out of Israel. If you set foot in here, you're getting your head cut off. That's a quick commentary on what happened. And so Jephthah took some of his mighty men down to the river Jordan, and he took them at the one crossing where they could all cross over, because now the Ephraimites were scared, and they wanted to be part of the good guys, glory hogs. You know, it's those people that sit in the back that never once get up to sing in the choir, never once grab an instrument, never once do anything, but boy, they can sure complain about the music. They can complain about the preaching. You want me to preach short or pray about it? Maybe God will hear your prayer. So he sent them there at the crossing of the Jordan. He said, if any of those Ephraimites cross over, you tell them to say Shibboleth. What does that mean, preacher? Well, first of all, the word means salvation. But unfortunately, because of the dialect of the time, the Ephraimites, the Bible says, could not form their tongue. It was an entire race of people that had a speech impediment, I guess. They could not make the shhh sound. So when they came up to the river, and there was Jephthah's men, the Gileadites of Israel, standing there to Jordan, and these people come up, look just like us, sounded just like us, but there was one thing that gave them away. And his men said, say Shibboleth. And with every ounce they had inside them, they'd form their tongue and go, Shibboleth. Cut their head off. 42,000 bodies piled up at the crossing of the Jordan River that could not say Shibboleth. One of these days, That Lamb's Book of Life is going to be open. And Jesus is going to stand there and say, say shibboleth. But I look like you. I act like you. I go to church. I tithe. I sing in the choir. I was the lead baritone for our quartet. Why, my mama bought a pew in the church. My daddy's buried out behind it, Jesus. That's wonderful. Say Shibboleth. We built the church. My people. Of all people. Everybody loves old people. Jesus. My child just went in. Jesus. That's wonderful. Say Shibboleth. Save salvation. You were close. You almost had it. You almost went to the altar. You almost asked Jesus to be your Savior. You almost repented of your sins. You got so close only to spend an eternity in hell. That is the seriousness of this message. That is the seriousness. Well preacher, I gotta move on. Amanda and Billy, would you come to the instruments please? Well preacher, what do I do then? Oh my goodness, I could go on that page, I don't want to. What do I do then? Here's what you do. Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? I know right about now. You see, whenever you've seen Satan working, you can't unsee it. People talk, we talked about it yesterday in the recording over there. People say, preacher, why do you worry about people sleeping in church? Why don't you just let that stuff go? I ain't worried about you sleeping in church. I'm worried about the fifth step after you sleep. Because that's the first step in degradation. when you're sitting looking off, staring off in the wild blue yonder out the window, when you're checking Candy Crush on your phone and seeing what the latest email was and who updated their Snapchat and Instagram. Somebody had bunny ears on their picture on Easter. Boy, that was sure funny. Look here, partner so-and-so in the pew. Why do I worry about that? Because today it's that. And after you've been in this for about 25 years, You watch that, and then you watch them walk out the door about five months later. You watch them stand up and say, Preacher, you ain't very pastorial around here. You ought not talk like that to people. I'm going to go find another church. That's why I'm worried about it. Because when you've been up here looking that way and you've watched Satan work, you know where he's headed. That's why it bothers me. So Preacher, what do we do? What I was going to say is here's what Satan's getting ready to do. He's getting ready to distract you with every single thing. Your phone is going to be vibrating off the hook in your pocket. Your keys are going to be not just right. You're going to have to get in and rattle your keys. You're going to need just one more sugar-coated gumdrop in your mouth. You've got to get your jacket on just right. I've got to go ahead and remote start the vehicle because it's hot outside. I want my sweetie to be cold when she gets it. Something is going to come right now. I'll go ahead and tell you it's Satan. That's who it is. So preacher, what do I do about it? I don't want to be one of those numbers. Here's how you do that. You call out on the only one who's going to stand. You're going to call out on the one who's writing your name down in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Bible says, Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock. You church of Laodicea, I've been standing here. You thought you were rich. You thought you were righteousness. But I'm standing at the door and knocking. All we have to do is open the door and let Him into our heart because He says, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. I am the doorway. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, The Bible gives us three things that we must do. You must believe in His death. You must believe in His resurrection. And you must believe in His perfect life. That is what we must do. So here's what I want. I just want you to stay sitting right where you're at this morning. You need to come to the altar, you come on. But I want to make this as comfortable for you as possible. I'm going to play Satan's game for a little bit. Can I do that? Is that bad to say, Brother Woodson? That might be a little bit dangerous. Because comfortability has just claimed another hundred. So I want you to be as comfortable as you can be right now. Brother Chris, can you go to the back glass doors for me right there? Thank you. Just right here on the inside, right there. I just don't want anybody running out. Before every last person leaves here today, one of these fine men is going to come and shake your hand, look you in the eye, and ask you, do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? After all that we have preached, if you have to lie about that answer, I hate to go back to the point of the degrees of punishment, but your punishment just got a lot worse. All my deacons, all my preachers, if you would stand. Just play Amazing Grace, it'll be fine. Or whatever you've got, just something soft, something, something. And I want each of these men to come. Men, make sure you've got your Bible with you. I want you to come. Just make sure you disperse out. Brother Chris, if anybody gets the urge to say, I can get out of this. I'll just go to the bathroom right now. Hit them on the way out the door. And then once we've got a good feeling, we've got everybody covered, don't forget the people downstairs. Don't forget Brother Van out here. I want every single person to have that opportunity to either testify for the Lord and say, yes, I know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Making it easy on you today. This is serious stuff. This is serious stuff. Man, if you get a no answer, if you get a no answer, we need folks there with you. Keep an eye. Brother Chris, right over here please. I don't want a soul getting out of here. Another hundred just went to hell. I don't care if we hit them double. If you see somebody you want to shake their hand and ask them, do you know Jesus Christ your personal Savior? Get to them, men. Get to them. Go and find them. I'm glad to see some tears flowing. I'm glad to see the weight of an eternal hell upon people's shoulders. I'm glad to see there's some folks who really feel that there is a place where your worm will not die, will not pass away. Preacher, I'm good. I shook every man's hand and said, I know Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Glory be to God for that. Now, who can you pray for? Do something with it. Call on the Jesus name. You all know Brother Whitson. He's going to come to every last person in here. If you've got lunch plans, I'm sorry for you. I've got my bodyguards at the back door. Ain't nobody running out unless you answer one more time on the way out the door. Nobody in this church that's here on this day, the Bible says today is the day of salvation. Now is the appointed time. Nobody will leave this church today without having to lie to somebody, without hearing, hell will be your home, another hundred. This is an auction that nobody ever wants to find themselves in, because your number may be called next. Can I do this real quick? It's not like me to speak out or be bold or anything, but I'm going to try it one time and see what it's like. I think we've got some folks over here getting some help. How many prayer warriors have we got in here that's willing to run to the altar right now and intercede for one right now? How many believe that that's real? How many believe that's real? How many are willing to call out upon the Lord and say, I'm safe, I know you. It's me again, Lord. But there's one in our midst that if their number is called today, I will die knowing that I had an opportunity and I passed it by because of comfort, because of ease of believism, Because I was afraid. Oh, heaven help us. Let's lift your voices up in prayer. Miss Amanda, you keep praying. That's all right, honey. You go ahead and pray. Yes. Maybe our voices will fill the room. Maybe the folks who are calling out upon the Lord will fill that space. Oh, heaven help. Heaven help. All right, you let the tears flow. Tears for a moment on heaven. For a lost soul is better than eternal anguish and tears in hell where there is no record. Yes. Yes. Help me, Lord. Lord, you know I want... Lord, you know what my prayers be. Lord, I've called upon your name already today. Lord, we got so many in our church. Lord, these little ones that you've put in our care, please let us keep our focus. Never lose sight. Lord, allow me to stand in the gap for these little ones. Lord, some I don't know their name or never seen their face yet, God. But I've already cried out their name to you. God, you knew them before they were formed in the womb. God, I pray. Lord, help I pray. You keep praying. Keep praying. Help him Lord. You have the words to say. Bless these two young men. It'll be two more that don't have it. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, God, for giving me the courage to stand and to preach. And what others fall, preach. Thank you for putting the unction down inside of me. There's a fire that's been shut up in me. Thank you God for giving me a platform and a purpose. I'll ask you to be respectful for the next few moments, if you would. Heaven is doing some work right now. We just need to mind our business for a moment. Yeah! Thank you, Lord! If it's only one, God, thank you. One more, and I'm going to feel the praise I have. One more will never enter into the place where the worm doth rot. One more. Thank you, God. Thank you, God, for encouraging us to believe. Thank you, God, for sending His Son. Thank you for giving us a word to preach. I don't know what I'm saying right now. I got some news too, there's a young lady back there in a red dress. There's a young lady back there in a red dress, she's 25, and she wanted me to come tell you that she just lost her life to Jesus Christ. Two! Yes, thank you Lord! Some ladies, if you would, please go hug your sweet girl's neck. Let this little one back here. Tell her you're thankful that one day you'll be able to hug her neck in heaven. If you don't know, Jesus Christ is your personal Savior. I would not dare walk out of those doors today. I would not dare allow the flames of hell to be turned up a little hotter. Sammy, Sammy's safe here. the blood that saves from sin. It's still the blood that cleanses within. From the highest star in heaven to the depths of the sea, it is still the blood of Jesus that brings victory to me.