If you have your Bibles, I'd like you to turn the book of Revelation with me, please. Chapter nine. Revelation chapter number nine. And verse number one. Revelation chapter number nine and verse number one. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth. And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power, And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them, it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. Father, bless this holy book now. God, give me unction. In thy name we pray, amen. You can be seated. I want to preach a message this morning on the pit of hell. In the book of Revelation chapter number 9 the Bible talks about verse 2, the bottomless pit. In other words the place called hell according to the scripture is a bottomless pit. They have an angel over them and the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. We do know that, my friend, hell is in the heart of the earth. We do know from the Word of God that the Lord Jesus Christ preached more on hell than anyone else that ever walked upon the face of this earth. Therefore, he was warning us of a place not to go to. In Luke chapter number 16, when the rich man lifted up his eyes in hell, he said, let me go and warn my five brethren, lest they come to this horrible place of torment. The answer is quite revealing, for the word of God says, Abraham answered and said, they have Moses and the prophets. If they will not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe one, though he returned even from the dead. There are counterfeit spirits, counterfeit messages, counterfeit apparitions, all sorts of things that can happen in the spirit world that can lead you astray. But the living word of the living God is illuminated by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, his word is absolutely sufficient to warn you about this horrible place called hell. If you died right now, you'd find yourself probably in the greatest shock that you could ever imagine. For some of you do not believe there is a hell. You've been told that when man dies, he dies like a dog. And there's nothing that lies beyond the grave. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible does not try to prove anything to you. It simply makes a statement and declares these things to be. I can look beyond the grave. If you die without the Lord Jesus Christ, you will lift up your eyes, falling in a pit. You'll be falling headlong down, down, down into the pit of hell. It'll be the greatest shock that you ever had in your life because you do not believe that it exists, but you will not be able to deny the reality of the place that you have entered into. You have entered into hell. There is a place that is so horrible that the human mind cannot conceive it. But it was not conceived by the human mind. It was originated in the word of the living God. It was made for the devil and his angels. And you will be in for a surprise, for you will lift up your eyes in hell. This preacher's trying to warn you this morning what lies beyond the grave, and it'll be a day of shock like you've never known in your life. It'll be hard for you to take it in. You'll probably believe that it's all a dream, that somewhere along the line that you're going to wake up and it'll all be over with, but you'll find yourself continuing to fall into hell. And deeper and deeper and deeper you'll go into the pit of the condemned. The Bible calls it the bottomless pit and into hell you'll go. It is a place of reality. You cannot deny its existence because you're there. You wouldn't want to tell folks on this earth where you are, especially those that you care for and that you love. You'd want them to understand that you're in hell. that all that they believe about hell is a lie, that their liberal religion has lied to them, their preachers have lied to them, their science has lied to them, that they believed a lie all of their life because you're in hell and you want them to know about it but you can't tell them because they have the living word of the living God and into hell you go. Hell is populated by demons. It's populated by fallen angels. It's populated by people, by the tens of thousands, yeah, even millions, and you continue to fall. You won't be alone. There'll be many around you, but there's no comfort from all those about you because you're in hell. Hell is a place of torment. It's a place of sorrow. It's a place of suffering. It's the end of a Christ-rejecting life. It's waiting for every last human being on this earth if Christ has not borne them into the family of God. It's a place of horror. Abraham said, Son, remember. And my friend, you will remember. You'll remember this message that you're hearing right now. You'll remember the messages that you heard in any other church, any other preacher, a faithful man of God that tried to warn you about hell. You'll never forget that message. Your memory will be as clear then as it has ever been. For it'll be the thing that haunts you throughout eternity. And that is the life that you lived on this earth. And you continue to follow. That memory will lead at your soul. It'll lead at your heart. It'll lead at your very being. It reminds you over and over and over again. of the opportunities that you had to be born again, and you refused them, rejected them. You had plenty of time, you say. I'm going to live forever. I feel like I'll be here forever. And that's the average person, but you won't live forever. There is a destiny waiting every last one of us. There is a door we go through. There is a time you breathe your last. There comes a time when your heart beats its last. That is the reality that you've got to deal with. And when you leave this world, where dear friend, are you going? The Lord Jesus Christ said, don't fear him that can destroy the body. He said, yeah. I forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him that hath power not only destroy the body But to cast you into hell and that my friend is in the hands of the Living God The Bible said it's a terrible thing It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and that's exactly where you fall into when you leave this world without the Lord. The Bible says that our God is a consuming fire. It is the fire of holiness that consumes in hell fire. It burns nothing to burn it up. It doesn't need anything to burn as we understand. It is that burning flame that consumes and consumes and consumes and burns and burns and burns forever. The screams that rise up from hell The Bible said he's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You think you won't, but you will. The time will come when you'll wail and weep and gnash your teeth. Don't let that happen to you. You can stop it now. You can do something about it this very moment. For the Lord Jesus Christ suffered your hell at Calvary to keep you out of there and that that I just said to you will ring through your soul throughout eternity if you go to hell. The Bible said weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and you continue to fall deeper and deeper and deeper you go into the bottomless pit The horrors rise up beside you. The sound and the screams and the smell and the fire all encompasses you because you're dropping down into the land of the condemned. They that enter in have no hope. There is no hope in hell. There are no children in hell. There is no peace in hell. There, my friend, is no mercy in hell. There, my friend, is no grace in hell. But hell is a place of torment and damnation. Oh, I didn't write the Bible. I didn't say a word about it. God didn't consult with me. This book was written before I was ever conceived. And hellfire was there before I ever came into this world. The Bible said hell was not made for man. It was made for the devil and his angels. And you continue to fall deeper and deeper and deeper into condemnation. Condemnation is a process from the moment that you're born in this world till you take your last breath. You're going down a path. Either that path leads to Christ or that path leads to hell. And the day will come when life ends and you'll find out one way or the other where you're going. I am so thankful to God today for the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son. that cleanses from all sin. For I know whom I have believed. I know that I'll not go to hell. Thank God for that today. But do you know that? Do you know that? Do you know that? You say, I don't know what lies beyond the grave. Then you're a fool to play Russian roulette with your soul. For I guarantee you one thing, you're going to die. And what awaits you beyond the grave, friend, is horror without imagination. The Bible calls it a bottomless pit. and you continue to fall. Down you go, deeper and deeper into the clutches of condemnation, into the clutches of despair, when your own heart and your soul one day will remember and come to the realization that you'll never have a place to go to. You'll never get out of there. You're condemned in hell, fire, and damnation forever. You're in a land of sorrow, a land of condemnation. Think about what I'm saying to you. There's a reality of where you're going when you leave this world. Either you're going to the Lord God, and you're going into the land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar, or you're going to hellfire. You're going to the pit. You're going to the land of the damned. You're going where there's no hope. You're going to condemnation! You're going to hell. And so my friend, when that day comes, you'll scream, you'll beg. There's praying in hell, you better believe it. There's crying in hell. Every imagination of a human mind, all the emotions that make us what we are, rise up out of hell. But there's no one down to help, and no one there cares. The one next to you screaming, this one's screaming, you're screaming, and you're in hell. You say, preacher, why would such a thing happen to a human being? It's when you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, you refuse the sacrifice that was made for you, while there at Calvary, God the Lord, the Son of God, took your hell into his body on the tree. And we deny him and we reject him every single day of our lives. And by doing so, write our own death warrant. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. All that God requires of you at this moment is, Lord Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner. Why wouldn't you get up out of your seat? Why wouldn't you get on your knees? Why wouldn't you cry out to him for mercy? You say, hell is a horrible torment. Yes, but the way of salvation is the free gift of God. And you can accept that or reject that. And that's the choice you make. And you're still falling. The rich man started falling 2,000 years ago. He's still falling. The bottomless pit will seal one day. And then a voice will rise from that pit. That voice will be heard at the great white throne judgment. The day will come when hell itself is opened up. The Bible said when that white throne is set, it'll be a day like earth and heaven have never known. For the Bible says when that great white throne sits, that heaven and earth flee away from the face of that Holy One that sits upon the throne. And hell will be brought up from its dregs. Hell will be raised up from its very foundation. Hell will rise to the top of the pit and be brought out into the presence of the great white throne judgment of God. And there you stand with the smoke and the torment and the condemnation all over your being. You'll be a reality that you wish a thousand times you could just cease to exist. But you've got to be brought before the great white throne judgment of Almighty God. And when He looks at you, the book is opened. And when the book is opened, He searches for your name. And when your name is not found, you're cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone. Hell itself, as horrible as it is, is headed to the lake of fire and brimstone. That means you will be cast kicking and screaming and begging into the lake of fire and brimstone. And when you sink into that lake, it is your eternal abode. The Bible said, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. It says that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever into the lake of fire and brimstone. And then from the minds of all that ever knew you, all that ever loved you, God will wipe your very memory from their mind. For those in heaven will not have to sorrow over you. It'll be as though you never existed. And the Bible says the memory of the wicked shall rot and you'll be done for. All because of one simple thing that you could do this morning. You could come down here and lay your hand on that Holy Bible and say, Lord Jesus, I don't want to go to hell. I don't want to go to hell. Lord Jesus, keep me out of hell. And you've come to the right one. That's why he went to the cross to keep you out of hell. How many more times do you have to be warned? How many more opportunities are you going to be given? How many more services are you going to sit through and harden your heart and stubborn and stiffen your neck to the truth of the Word of God? It's not this preacher that judges you. I am not capable or qualified. I don't have the right to. But it is this book that already has judged you. Won't you come out now? Come down here somewhere. Get down on your knees and say, Lord Jesus, there's a lot of things I don't understand, but I don't want to go to hell. If you'd come to him with an honest heart, a sincere desire to not go to the pit, he'll stop it. And he'll start whatever grace needs to be done in your heart to save your soul. Father in Jesus name. I preached what you put on my heart, Lord. Satan fought me, and you knew he would. But God, I gave them what you gave me. And now in Jesus' name, use it. Save some soul in this house for Jesus' sake. Save that soul, Lord, that may be nearest hell. In Jesus' name, we pray. And for his sake, I ask it. Amen.