I want to bring this evening a second and concluding message upon the subject that we commenced last Lord's Day. The burning hell which Jesus preached. The burning hell which Jesus preached. This is an answer to an Ulster television program specially designed to pour scorn and ridicule upon the teaching of the Word of God. And of course, as I said last Lord's Day, the powers that be in Havelock House saw to it that no strong, fundamentalist, Bible-believing, Ulster preacher would have the opportunity in this program to state clearly what the Bible really teaches. And we passed words of condemnation upon the principal of the Irish Baptist College, who appeared upon the program and was very weak indeed upon this subject of hell fire. Now I showed you last Lord's Day from the Word of God that the Lord Jesus Christ taught that there was literal fire in hell. We saw that hell was a place, and what an awful place it is! No wonder John the Baptist, raising both hands to heaven and looking over the great crowds that thronged to his ministry at the bank of Jordan, cried with trumpet voice, flee from the wrath to come. Why did He utter such words with such zeal and such fire and such passion? I'll tell you why. Because He knew that hell was a real place. And we went down the Word of God last Sunday and we showed you that Jesus taught that hell was a literal place. That Jesus taught that hell was a place of torment. And that Jesus taught that hell was a place of literal fire. I want to carry on this message this evening. And I want to show you from the Word of God that the very character of hell, as described in the Bible, makes it imperative that it is a place of literal fire. And if you deny the literalness of the fire of hell, then you must deny the literalness of the place called hell itself. Now we're turning to the Word of God. This is the sole rule of faith and practice. We're not going to some tome of theology. We're not going to some volume written by some philosopher. We're not going to the reasoning of the schools. We're going to the infallible book and to the infallible Christ. What saith the Scriptures? What saith the Bible? What saith the Lord Jesus Christ? And we are, on apology, a Bible-believing church and a Bible-preaching church. That's all we preach. We preach the Word of God. That's what we preach. If you want to know what we preach, here it's here. The blessed Word of God. Hallelujah for the book. Amen. We've got authority to them. We're standing for Christ's good. That's why we're strong. That's why this church is growing. That's why God has blessings. We received into our membership this morning 36 new members. That's why, because the Lord's blessings. Saving people. Why? Because we preach the Word. There's nothing formal about this church. You already know that, of course. If there was anything formal about it, I would be the first one to step on it. I don't believe in formality. I believe in the fire. That's what I believe in. Formality chills you, but the fire warms you. And by the look of some of you, you need warmth. So we're going to warm you tonight. Yes. Praise the name of the Lord. Now let's look at the Bible. And remember what I'm showing, that the character of hell proves that hell is a place of literal fire. And I'm going down through the characteristics of the place called hell. Now, first of all, Luke's Gospel, chapter 16. And I want to show you some things here for a moment or two. I want to show you that there is a call here for literal water. What use would literal water be if there was not literal fire in hell? Hell is a place where man have their senses. What senses? Physical senses. They see They hear, they feel, they thirst, they're in pain, and they cry for water. There's no literal fire in hell. Then, friend, you've got to destroy the literalness of the body prepared for the judgment. It's all here in Luke 16, isn't it? And let me tell you that Luke 16 is not a parable. Luke 16 is a historical record given by the infallible Christ of a certain rich man. He didn't say a symbolical rich man. He said a certain rich man. And he actually named the name of the beggar Lazarus. Now look at it. It says the rich man also died and was buried. There's nothing about the burial of Lazarus. Because, my friend, as I showed you this morning, you can't really bury a Christian. A Christian's body is not buried. A Christian's body is sown. When you go out to sow, you expect a resurrection, don't you? So you don't bury the Christian's body, thank God you sow it. It's sown in dishonor. It's going to be raised in honor. I was out visiting in the Musgrave Park Hospital this afternoon. I was with a brother. He said to me, going down the Lisburn Road, he said, I'd love to go and see the tomb of Dr. Henry Cook. I said, well, you're just beside it, just turn back and I'll take you there. So I took him into the Malone burying ground. And you know, many of the great old revival preachers, Hugh Hanna, James Edgar, Henry Cook, they're all buried there. And my brother said to me, he said, there'll be a stir here on the day of resurrection. And so there will be. These men rise in the resurrection of the just. The body of the believer is not buried, it's only sold. So when you lift the Belfast telegraph and they will have three-inch black headlines that day that Ian Paisley is dead, you'll know it's a lie, because I'll be living more than I ever lived. I'll really be living. You'll know that. And you know the telegraph couldn't tell the truth about me even if they tried anyway. So there you are. They rang me up some time ago, and I said, what are you ringing me for? He says, we heard you were shot, and we wanted to confirm it. I said, that's right, you wanted to confirm it, all right. He said, I'm not shot, and I have no intention of letting anybody shoot me either. Good afternoon. Amen. It wasn't a dialogue, it was a monologue. Now, when you get down to this portion of Scripture, you find the rich man was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes. He's in hell now. And in hell he's calling for what? He's calling for Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Did the rich man see in hell? Yes. He woke up. He lift up his eyes. That's the first time he woke up. He was sleeping as he lived. But in hell he lift up his eyes. Thank God for man that could wake up in time and could see Him. And friend, if you have never awakened to see you're a lost, perishing sinner, in God's name, wake it up tonight! He saw. He heard. He thirsted. He felt. He cried. There was a flame and he wanted water! Friend, when I go to Calvary, And I stand under the shadow of the cross. I hear a cry from Calvary, I thirst. I thirst. And I know that my Savior was enduring my hell for me at the cross. He thirsted that you might never thirst. He was God forsaken that you might never be God forsaken. He suffered physical anguish on the tree that you might be delivered from wrath to come. And from the depths of our heart we cry, Hallelujah! What a Savior! He has delivered us from wrath to come. Save them from going down to the pit, for I have found the ransom. Don't you see the character of hell here? It's stamped with literalness. And to be called for water, it was literal fire. I want to tell you, friends, soul anguish wouldn't be soothed with water. Anguish that's spiritual could not be soothed with something that's physical. But in hell there's not only eternal anguish, and mental anguish, and bitter remorse, but there's bodily, physical sufferings in hell. You know why? Because the body is the instrument of sin. That's why. And God will punish the instrument of sin. You have sinned in your body, you'll pay for it in eternity. the very body of sin. The very instrument that was used for sin will bear the curse of God. And thank God this instrument that has been redeemed and used for God's service, it will bear the glory of the Lord. Let's look a second time at the Word. Let's turn to Matthew, his Gospel. Matthew's Gospel Chapter 13, verse 42, And shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wheeling and gnashing of teeth. And you go down, my friend, to verse 50. And we read these words. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire. No other furnace like this furnace. This is unique. This is the lake of fire. This is the final great house of imprisonment for damned souls. Now I've talked to men who have a bitter soul trouble. I've gone into homes and the hearts of the father and mother were torn because of some grief. that settled down in their inmost being. But I never saw yet a man gnash his teeth because of mental pain. No, mental pain, my friend, does not affect the body in that way. But I've gone through the hospital wards. I've seen men with broken limbs, and torn ligaments and fractured and smashed and broken bodies. And as they lay in pain, I've seen them gnash their teeth. Why? Because they were suffering physical torment. And my friend, this torment that's here is physical! They gnash their teeth in hell! and gnashing of teeth. This is why we're concerned, sinner above. This is why this church runs on prayer. This is why the preacher pleads with the people to pray for him. This is why the preacher, before he preaches, bows the knee and says, God, help me! Why? Because my congregation is in danger of the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth in hell's literal flame forevermore. I'm not here to question what Jesus said. I'm here to proclaim it. I'm not here to argue. The gospel is not an argument. The gospel is a declaration. I've got to declare it. Oh my friend, tonight you're listening to me and you're in danger of gnashing of teeth down in hell. I'll tell you something else, friend. Hell is characterized by something else. Matthew 8 and 12. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness. In hell they call for literal water because it's a literal flea. In hell they gnash their teeth because it's physical torment. Hell is described as outer darkness. Ah, says the old critic of the Bible, I've got you now. How could fire be darkness? If you say that, you're only showing your own ignorance. For the greatest heat known in science is the dark flame. The greatest heat is darkness. Let me give you this statement. Luminosity is vibration of the ether. Light is a wave of ether driven hard. But let the waves be driven faster and faster. The sight sense feels to take in the luminosity. And what is light becomes darkness. And what a darkness! A sound higher than the register of your ear can take becomes silence. And what a silence! The silence of an ear burst, the darkness, an eye blindness. There are chemicals that give forth no light when they burn, but they pierce and bite to the bone, blister and kill with no light at all, only the blackness of darkness. And the blackness of darkness is the worst possible flame. And the writer says the black depths of the bottomless pit Absorb all the red rays of the wrath of God. But they remain black with the blackness of darkness forever. The Bible is right scientifically. It will stand any test. Jesus knew what He was talking about. He made every flame ever know. And when He talked about the blackness of darkness forever, He was talking facts to be plunged into hellfire. You know what the Old Book says upon the wicked? He shall reign snares, fire and brimstone shall be the portion of their cup. There's man tonight in eternity, and their cup is a cup brimful with bliss and happiness. I have seen the righteous die, and I have said, let me die the death of the righteous. Let my last end be like them. And our loved ones in heaven are drinking the cup of bliss and peace and happiness. Friends, I have there I loved long ago, Joy like a river around them does flow, And just a smile from the Savior I know Is for them eternal glory. But friend, there's another cup, A cup of wrath upon the wicked He shall re-ensnare. Fire! Brimstone! This shall be the portion of their cup. You wouldn't drink the cup of salvation, but you'll drink forever the cup with the dregs of damnation, friend. You wouldn't join in singing of the song of redemption, But some of you, my hearers, how can I say it, but my God, it's true, if they will not repent, they shall will the groanings of the damned in hell. Men without Christ, women without Christ tonight, get on your knees and ask God to save you from the darkness of blackness forever. If this was only the statement of a preacher, you could shrug your shoulders and go home tonight. If this was only a school of theology's thought, you could shrug your shoulders and go home. But friend, this is the statement of the blessed Savior. And He came all the way from heaven to tell you and to warn you. And then He sealed His testimony in the bloodshedding of Calvary. Oh, how can you reject His message? How can you be so filled with folly as to stagger on down the road to the abyss of the damned? Man without Christ Women, without Christ tonight, get on your knees and cry to God for mercy. The time is short. Eternity is long. Long it never ends. If there was some escape door from the bottomless pit, if I could say to you, my hearers, tonight, that after ten million billion years, that hope would revive, that a star would appear in the darkness of hell! That there would come a morning in this terrible night! You would have some hope, but no star will ever arise in the dark night of hell. There'll be no morning to the black night of perdition! And you're lost! You're lost forever! Forever stamped on the locks of hell. Forever stamped on the chains of hell. Forever burned on the walls of the pit. Forever is the message across the horizon of perdition. It's forever. Forever and forever. May God have mercy upon you, sinner. May you awaken to see your need. May you come to the blood tonight, and to the cross tonight, and to God's place of pardon, and God's place of peace. You know, these Jehovah Witnesses, these false cultists, They come along and they say death means annihilation, destruction means annihilation, perdition means annihilation. You have nothing to worry about. Don't be fooled, friend. Oh, friend, there's too much at stake to be fooled. Let me show you from the Word of God what perdition means, what destruction means, what death means, so that you can be absolutely sure. If you have your testament, turn with me now to the book of the Revelation. Revelation chapter 17 and verse 8. The beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was and is not, and yet is. Would you look at that? Into perdition. Now the word that's translated perdition there is the same word that's translated elsewhere, destruction. Now I want to show you what perdition and destruction is. Come to Revelation 19. Revelation 19. And verse 20 says they shall go into perdition. Now what's perdition? Here's what it is. Revelation 19, 20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him. with which he deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. They went to perdition. They were destroyed. What does God mean by perdition? What does God mean by destruction? God means the lake of fire. All right, you say, preacher, you go to the lake of fire and you're burned up, you're annihilated, and that's it all. Oh, don't be deceived, Frank. God has made it clear. Turn to the next chapter. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 10. In chapter 20, there's a thousand year period. Yes, a thousand years. Between the sending of the false prophet and the sending of the beast into the lake of fire. And at the end of the thousand years, the devil... Verse 10, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire. Look at it. Where the beast and the false prophet were. It doesn't say that. It's not in the past tense. Where the beast and false prophet are. They're still there. They're still being tormented. A thousand years have passed and they're still being tormented in hell. Oh, this is terrible, isn't it? This is the Word of God. You can make sure, friend, that hell is not annihilation. Yes, and they come along and they say death's annihilation, is it? You turn to chapter 21 and verse 8. What does it say there? Look at it. The fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. This is the second death. So perdition Destruction and the second death are all one and the same. And what are they? They are eternal, conscious, tormenting, in the lake of fire forevermore. There's no annihilation in the book, friends. It's not there. God says what He means, and God means what He says. My, you turn over, my friend, in the book of Revelation to Revelation 14, And verse 10 and 11, and it says, the smoke of their torment. Listen to this. Verse 10, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. The wine of the wrath of God. It's what you're going to drink, friend. Unseated one. That's your cup forever. And what does it say? He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth forever and ever. Look at it. And they have no rest day nor night. No rest in hell. No rest in hell! It's conscious, physical, never-ending torment and physical fire forever and ever. And don't sinner be foolish enough to mock it, lest you taste it sooner than you expect. Let's bow our heads.