🎵Piano Music🎵
Hello, welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church. We're so glad you're here this morning. Thank you for attending.
Let's grab our seats and open our green hymn books to page 266.
Honey in the Rock, green hymn books, please take your seats.
Welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church, page 266 in your green hymn books.
🎵Piano Music🎵
Honey in the Rock, page 266. On the first with me.
🎵Oh, my brother, do you know the Savior? Who is wondrous, kind and true? He's the rock of your salvation.
There's honey in the rock for you. Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother.
There's honey in the rock for you. Leave your sins for the blood to cover.
There's honey in the rock for you. Good job on the second.
Have you tasted that the Lord is gracious? Do you walk in the way that's new?
Have you drunk from the living fountain? There's honey in the rock for you.
Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother. There's honey in the rock for you.
Leave your sins for the blood to cover. There's honey in the rock for you.
Do you pray unto God the Father for me to do? Never fear, He will surely answer.
There's honey in the rock for you. Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother.
There's honey in the rock for you. Leave your sins for the blood to cover.
There's honey in the rock for you. Lift it up to the Lord on the last.
Then go out through the streets and byways. Preach the word to the many or few.
Say to every fallen brother, there's honey in the rock for you.
Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother. There's honey in the rock for you.
Leave your sins for the blood to cover. There's honey in the rock for you.
Amen. Great singing this morning. We're so glad you're here.
Brother Temo, can you open us with the word of prayer?
Amen. Page 157 will be our second song this morning. 157.
Come Thou Almighty King. Page 157 on the first.
Come Thou Almighty King. Help us Thy name to sing.
Help us to praise. Father all glorious.
All all victorious. Come and reign over us ancient of days.
On the second. Come Thou incarnate Word.
Gird on Thy mighty sword. Our prayer attend.
Come and Thy people bless and give Thy word success.
Spirit of holiness on us descend. Come holy Comforter.
Thy sacred witness bear in this platter.
Thou who Almighty art. Thou rule in every heart.
And ne'er from us depart. Spirit of power. Lift it up on the last.
To the great one and three. Eternal praises be.
Hence evermore. His sovereign majesty may we in glory see.
And to eternity love and adore. Great singing at this time.
We'll have our announcements.
All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church.
Let's take our bulletins and go through some of the announcements.
You need a bulletin? Just lift up your hand with the ushers.
We'll bring you a bulletin. Raise your hand in the air.
Wave it like you just don't care. All right.
On the front cover there we have our verse of the week.
It says, Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.
Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.
Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
That doesn't sound like King James version. Is that King James version?
Let's look it up. If it's not, Ryland is definitely fired.
Somebody fact check this. That sounds like NASB or something.
Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man.
Definitely fired. Trying to trick a King James only pastor like that?
Not going to happen. Sorry, Ryland.
But I'm sorry. I should have caught that last night when I was looking over the bulletin.
But that is not King James. Sorry, guys.
Yeah. Let's look that up real quick. Everybody just turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15, 58.
I'll add to the embarrassment, Ryland. Shame. Shame.
He probably just looked it up real quick and maybe it's new King James or something.
Yeah, it does. All right.
Alex, come up here and read it.
This is a good verse, so we don't want to miss the verse of the week.
1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15, 58. All right. That's the verse of the week.
Let's shred these after the service and get the verse right for the evening service.
Okay. Sorry about that, beloved brethren.
All right. On the inside page here, we have our service times.
Sunday morning service, 10.30 a.m. Sunday evening service, 3.30 p.m.
Thursday evening Bible study, 6.30 p.m.
We'll be back in 1 Chronicles 21 to finish off the chapter this coming Thursday.
And if it's your first time here, we're happy that you're here.
Thank you so much for being a first-time guest.
We do have some gift bags on the right-hand side on the way out.
You can just grab one on your way out.
Just take that as a token of our appreciation of you being a first-time guest.
And below the service times, we do have our soloing times listed below.
We do have soloing today at 1 p.m.
If you're planning on going out from here, just meet in the auditorium here at 1 p.m.
We'll get you a partner and a map to go to.
Otherwise, if you're in the WhatsApp group, just make sure that you know what group you're in.
Brother Alex will make sure that you're assigned to a group.
If you are not in the WhatsApp group and you want to go soloing,
just come to me or my wife and we can get you in the soloing group.
If you've been coming regularly to the services or if you just come to a few services,
we'll gladly put you in there.
And let's see.
We had a couple of salvations yesterday out soloing in Hazel Dell.
And thank you for everybody that came out soloing yesterday.
Also, if you look down, you can see the praise report, the salvation so far for the month of February.
And our attendance from last week.
And the upcoming events are many here.
We have the sixth anniversary of our church plant in Spokane coming up on March 14th through 16th.
And I'll be preaching Friday night.
And then there'll be some soloing.
I'm not sure if it's going to be a full blown marathon or not, but it'll probably be weather dependent on that.
And of course, we'll probably hang out on Saturday afternoon or evening
and do some fellowship and food that usually goes along with Baptist churches.
And then I'll be preaching or Remy will be preaching, excuse me, on Sunday for both services
as he's taking over that church plant here pretty soon.
He had a good job interview take place.
And so it looks like they might be moving sooner rather than later.
And he did ask me to do a recruitment, which is probably very necessary because Brandon and Nia are also moving to Texas.
And so that's two of our song leaders.
So that leaves one song leader that we have in the rotation, Brother Bill.
And I don't think that he's going to be able to do all that by himself.
So I'm asking if anybody would be willing to come forward and try to step up and do any song leading, maybe on a rotational basis.
And of course, we're not going to just throw you to the wolves.
We're not going to throw you into the fire.
Remy will be doing some song leading classes for anybody to be interested.
So if you're interested in doing that, please see me anytime in the short future here and we'll get a song leading class going.
And also, if anybody's interested in learning how to play the piano,
I will personally buy any instructional books that you would need to learn how to do that
because we're also losing both of our piano, two of our piano players that we have.
We have Gabe, who's learning right now, but he's not all the way there yet.
But he is fast tracking, trying to get himself ready to go.
But it would also be nice to have some other people to learn how to play the piano.
And so we're definitely needing some people to help out with the music ministry coming shortly
because Kayla is getting married in August.
And so she is going to be moving to Tucson.
And so after August, we'll have a shortage on piano players.
But congratulations to Kayla.
Hopefully I was supposed to – was it not okay for me to say that?
Oh, it's in July. Yeah, you're right. It is in July.
Sorry about that. I said it was in August, but I lied.
So, all right. Sorry about that. You're right.
My calendar in my brain is messed up.
So, yeah, you're like, did we change the date?
Sorry about that.
People were panicking everywhere in the auditorium.
I'm like, what did I say? What did I do? Was I not supposed to say anything?
But Gabe proposed.
I saw the pictures at sunset and he's on a bended knee.
And I couldn't see her face, but she was probably crying because she's a girl.
So, she was crying. I asked C.J. and he said she was.
So, if she wasn't, then I would think that there's something wrong.
Anyway, so, congratulations to them.
They're engaged now to be married.
They're getting married here at our church on –
probably should have put it in the bulletin, but I just want to make sure.
I didn't even have permission to announce that.
So, I'm just doing all kinds of things wrong.
The King James isn't even right in our bulletin.
I mean, I'm just really screwing everything up today.
But anyway, let's look at the calendar.
The 18th is – the 19th is going to be the wedding.
It's going to be at 12 o'clock.
So, reception will be here. Wedding will be here.
So, we definitely have some planning to do there.
And, yeah.
So, that's that announcement.
All those in that one little bit there.
So, any marathon will be on March 29th.
We do one every quarter.
So, I haven't picked a location yet, but that will be forthcoming.
Men's preaching night is March 30th.
So, if you're a man and you want to preach,
all we require is that you wear a tie, use a King James Bible,
and don't preach any heresy.
So, and if you're not sure what heresy is,
come see me and I'll – if you just tell me your subject.
If you think that some weird stuff about the Trinity,
I would definitely like to know so I can correct you about that.
And, yeah, just trust me.
I'll let you know if you're preaching heresy,
especially if you're doing it during the men's preaching night.
So, just check with me.
If there's a doctrine that only you believe
and nobody else in the world believes it,
it's probably you believing heresy.
So, anyway, we also have the Lord's Supper,
April 13th, the Mega-Marathon, the All-SFBC Mega-Marathon Plus.
I'm sure other churches are going to be involved in this.
April 19th, April 20th is Easter Sunday.
And April 25th is the SFBC second year anniversary.
Pastor Anderson will be preaching Friday night up there
and we'll be doing a Sony marathon on Saturday.
I'll be preaching on Sunday.
May 15th through 18th is the King James Conference.
All the pastors listed there, Pastor Shelley, Pastor Mejia,
Pastor Anderson will be there and yours truly.
And you can RSVP through our email or text TheChurch at 360-718-3834.
And there's a Sony marathon in Chicago June 28th and 1 in Detroit September 6th.
I'm sure there'll be other stuff to add in here later on.
We're family integrated.
That means the children and infants are welcome during the church services.
Please use the mother-baby room located in the back there for your needs
and the dad-baby room located back there for your needs.
All the rules and regulations
that I'm not going to mention every time are located underneath there.
Please silence your cell phones if you would, please.
And text-giving information or if you don't want to give in person
or if you don't want to give at all, you don't have to, obviously.
But the information that's coming, the tithes and offerings that have come in so far
is at the bottom of the page.
We've already done all the birthdays and anniversaries.
I just have one other embarrassing thing to talk about before we're done.
So the last two services we've had some issues with the toilet
and so the toilets around the corner.
And I'm not sure if this is the culprit or he said he was going to,
the guy that fixed it said he was going to leave whatever got flushed down the toilet
and was found in the tank here.
I'm not sure if this is what it was.
This might be not the item.
He was supposed to take a picture of it and send it to me.
He said he was leaving it on the sink.
Was there anything else left on the sink that wasn't like this guy's?
Was it a black cap?
Okay, that's what it was.
Did you throw it away?
Oh, you have it?
Oh, he's going to go get it.
All right, the drama thickens.
So I just, there's signs in both bathrooms that you cannot flush anything down those toilets
that is not toilet paper, that is not officially designated toilet paper of SFBC, okay?
We buy the thin stuff so that there's nothing getting flushed down those toilets
that's too thick for that system to handle.
Those bathrooms were installed after this place was designed.
So this is like a propane cap or something.
This was flushed down the toilet.
I don't know if this is what clogged the toilet.
It might be.
But both times, and this is two services in a row, that the toilets were clogged.
I don't know if he just, he had to bring in an auger.
And so both services, and then it just caused a whole bunch of problems.
We ended up having to replace one of the toilets.
And so it's just been a real poopy situation, okay?
And I've spent a lot of extra time here after the last two services
and then had to hire someone to come in and fix the toilets.
Kids, I'm just going to tell you right now, if I find anything else,
and I'm not saying you did it, it could have been somebody else,
it could have been an adult.
But usually adults don't flush stuff like these down the toilet.
But that system cannot handle anything else.
It could have been accidentally dropped.
I don't know who would be just accidentally dropping this.
I don't even know if this is what caused it.
But even the paper towels, that system cannot handle.
Do not flush paper towels or propane caps or whatever this is.
I mean, it might not even be in a propane cap,
but that's kind of what it looks like.
I don't know.
But system can't handle.
So I just want to ask for some help from, it might not have been,
it might not even have been this, but I don't know what else it would be.
This is the only, because we had to tear apart the whole tank.
Because our system in there, it shoots, usually poop rolls downhill,
if anybody has ever heard that term,
but usually they usually say a different word.
But it doesn't usually go uphill.
But that system is designed to shoot it up because of the way this bank was built.
You know, it's made out of reinforced concrete because it used to be a bank.
So they had to design that system so it goes up through a tube.
So anything that goes into that that would clog up the system
is going to just completely just shut those bathrooms down.
So that's why it's just so important not to mess with the system, okay?
So please, do not flush anything down that toilet.
And parents, if I could just get your help,
I know that foolishness has been on the heart of a child
and sometimes if a kid is just in there messing around,
kids are going to just mess around with stuff.
So please just, if you know, just pay some special attention
if your kids are just in the bathroom too long messing around or whatever,
just pay special attention to how long they're in there and what they're doing.
So if I could just get your help in that.
And if adults, if you're the one that did this, shame on you.
I'm just kidding. I don't think it was an adult.
I don't know what it was.
But all I know is that if I have to spend any more time messing around with those bathrooms,
if something like that happens today,
tonight's sermon is going to be a really potty talk situation, all right?
It's going to be sewers in light of the Bible or something. I don't know.
Anyway, if I could get your help with that, I'd really appreciate it.
So anyway, I flooded the whole church and had to come in and clean up a bunch of water
because I thought I was draining the baptismal thinking it was unplugged and it wasn't.
And then all the water got all over the, and I had to shop vac it all out.
I was here until like 9 o'clock at night doing that.
So anyway, lesson learned. Don't ever do it through the toilet
if you think it's possibly still could be plugged, all right?
So that's my fault. But anyway, that's all I have for announcements that are long.
But let's go ahead and sing another song and cheer up.
And yeah, I'm not trying to come down on you too hard about it, but things happen.
But if I spend one more hour here dealing with toilets and stuff like that,
I'm going to lose my mind. All right.
Let's sing another song. Get back in the spirit.
Page 312 will be our next song, Open My Eyes That I May See.
Page 312, Open My Eyes That I May See.
Sing out loud with me on the first.
Open my eyes that I may see
Glimpses of truth thou hast for me
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free
Silently now I wait for thee
Ready, my God, thy will to see
Open my eyes, illumine me
Spirit divine
Open my ears that I may hear
Voices of truth thou sendest clear
And while the wave notes fall on my ear
Everything false shall disappear
Silently now I wait for thee
Ready, my God, thy will to see
Open my ears, illumine me
Spirit divine
On the last.
Open my mouth and let me bear
Gladly the warm truth everywhere
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with thy children thus to share
Silently now I wait for thee
Ready, my God, thy will to see
Open my heart, illumine me
Spirit divine
Amen. Great singing.
At this time, our ushers will come forward to receive the offering.
And Brother Ramon, can you please bless it for us?
Father, thank you so much, Lord, for this church and for us to be able to gather here and worship you.
Lord, I pray you bless everything that you do here today serving you.
And I put past you with your spirit and bless this offering. In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
All right.
Open your Bibles to Deuteronomy 32.
Deuteronomy 32.
As is our custom, we'll read the entire chapter, so please follow along silently.
Did you not have a Bible? There should be one in the seat in front of you.
Deuteronomy 32, the Bible reads,
Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew,
As the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
Because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
He is the rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment.
A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.
They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of His children.
They are perverse and crooked generation.
Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?
Is not He thy Father, that hath bought thee?
Hath ye not made thee and established thee? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations.
Ask thy Father, and He will show thee, thy elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,
when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
For the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.
He found Him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness.
He led them about, He instructed Him, He kept Him as the apple of His eye.
As an eagle stirreth up her nest, floodereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.
So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields,
and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock,
butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan,
and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat.
And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape, but Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.
Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness.
Then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation.
They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
They sacrificed unto devils not to God, to gods whom they knew not,
to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.
And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters.
And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be,
for they are a froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God,
they have provoked me to anger with their vanities,
and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people.
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn under the lowest hell,
and shall consume the earth with her increase,
and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
I will heap mischiefs upon them, I will spend mine arrows upon them.
They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction.
I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin,
the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
I said, I would scatter them into corners,
I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men.
Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy,
lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely,
and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.
For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.
How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight,
except their rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?
For their rock is not our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter.
Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
For when he belongeth vengeance and recompense, their foot shall slide in due time,
for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants,
when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.
And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me.
I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal.
Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever.
If I wet my glittering sword in mine hand, take hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh,
and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenge upon the enemy.
Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants,
and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land and to his people.
And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Hoshea the son of Nun.
And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to Israel.
And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day,
which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
For it is not a vain thing for you, because it is your life.
And through the thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whether ye go over Jordan to possess it.
And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain,
a barram, unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho,
and behold, the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for possession.
And I in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people,
as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people,
because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel, as the waters of Meribah, Kadesh,
in the wilderness of Zen, because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Yet thou shalt see the land before thee, but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.
Brother Bill, can you pray for the service?
Amen. All right. Well, I've been preaching a series called the Foundation Series,
and last week I preached a sermon about salvation.
And normally, when I give the gospel, I usually tell people about hell first.
So this morning I'm going to be preaching out of that same series,
a sermon called The Reality of Hell.
The Reality of Hell. It's been a while since I've preached a sermon about this.
It's a very, it's not a very positive sermon, obviously,
but it is a sermon that needs to be preached,
and so it is going to be a doctrinal sermon,
but I will definitely be preaching this sermon also,
so it's not just going to be all dry material,
but it's very important that people understand that the doctrine of hell
is something that we need to put forth in our gospel presentations as we go preach the gospel.
It's something that people need to understand,
because if people are being saved, what are they being saved from?
People need to understand that there is a heaven to gain in salvation and a hell to shun.
We need to have people understand that,
and sometimes people aren't afraid of God,
and people need to understand that they need to fear the Lord,
and that is the beginning of wisdom.
That is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools will turn away from believing that there is a hell,
and unfortunately, there's a lot of preachers out there today
that will say that hell is just separation from God,
and they'll downplay what hell really is,
and they want to just candy-coat hell and make it a little easy pill for people to swallow,
or they'll just flat out say that hell isn't real,
or they'll just say that hell is, you know, everybody goes to heaven,
and say that when Jesus died on the cross,
that because he died for everybody, that everybody gets to go to heaven.
Well, everybody has a chance to go to heaven, but that's still free will.
You don't just automatically go to heaven because Jesus died on the cross.
So in the What We Believe section on our website, it says,
we believe that the unsaved will spend eternity tormented in a literal hell,
and eventually the lake of fire,
and we use verses from Mark 9, 43 to 48, Jude 1, 6, Revelation 14, 11, and Revelation 20, 14, and 15
underneath that little statement there.
And so in the Foundation series, I've been reading what our doctrinal statement says online.
These are the things that our church believes.
And sometimes we'll leave our, well, every time when we go out soul-willing,
we leave our cards of nobody's home, our invitations to our church
that have the Gospel presentation on it,
and many different resources that people can look at.
And sometimes people call and they get really mad because it says that if they don't get saved, they're going to go to hell.
And they get really upset about that.
But how good of Christians will we be if we did not tell people that they're going to go to hell if they don't get saved?
That is the whole point of preaching the Gospel so that we would save people from the fires of hell,
because the reality is that hell is real and that we need to tell people about heaven
and about what Jesus did for us so that we could go there so they could escape that place,
because we're not good Christians if we're not telling people how to escape hell, in all honesty.
Telling our relatives and our family members is not good enough.
What about other people's friends and family?
They deserve to know too, don't they?
And maybe if you start telling other people's friends and family about it,
maybe God will send somebody else that will actually listen, that your friends and family might listen to.
Because a lot of times, and Jesus said this, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own family.
You know, in his own nation, in his own city or whatever.
So, let's look at Deuteronomy 32 verse 15.
And God is basically, this is the first mention of the word hell in the whole Bible.
And let's actually look at verse 20.
So, it says, and he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be,
for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God.
They have provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people.
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
That's us, the Gentiles, right?
It says, for a fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell,
and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
So, the first mention of the word hell, it's talking about burning.
It's talking about the lowest hell.
And so, one thing that you need to understand about hell is that it's a place of burning.
And it says the lowest hell, so there's degrees of hell.
There's, you know, however wicked you are is you'll be put to a lower hell.
Those people that are going to go to hell are going to suffer based upon how wicked they were in their life.
You know, people say all sin is equal.
Well, that's not true, because some people have greater sin, and so greater is going to be their suffering in hell.
And so, we, you know, obviously, the worst serial killer or the worst false prophet, they're going to be into the deepest parts of hell.
And obviously, the little old lady that just didn't believe in Jesus, but she was, in our minds, probably a decent person,
by human standards, a good person, but just never believed in Jesus.
That person will be in hell, but maybe not tormented like everybody else.
But who wants to be tormented for all eternity? Nobody wants to be tormented for all eternity.
But the reason why I have this chapter read, though, and hell is mentioned 54 times in the King James Bible, by the way,
and that's not the only verses that talk about hell, but just hell itself is mentioned 54 times.
Now, there's a principle called the principle of the first mention.
And it refers to a method of biblical interpretation where the first time a concept, word, or doctrine appears in the scripture
is considered the most foundational and primary understanding of that topic,
suggesting that the initial mention provides the clearest and most essential meaning for further interpretation.
Essentially, the first time something is mentioned sets the precedent of how it is understood throughout the text.
So the first time it's mentioned is in a negative regard as to it being a place that you would want to avoid,
a place that burns, a place that's in the lowest place.
So if we go straight down from where we're at now, the lowest place that we could get to is in the center of the earth.
And that is where the Bible teaches that hell is at.
That's where Jesus' soul went for three days and three nights in the center of the earth.
Jesus said, as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The heart meaning like the core, the middle of the earth.
And so even scientists know what is in the heart of the earth is hot lava, magma, and excessive heat, right?
So it makes sense that that's where hell would be.
So the doctrine of first mentions is a good doctrine to apply to the situation
because every time you see hell in the Bible, it's always a negative mention.
We always know what hell means.
Ask anybody on the street, what is hell?
And they're always gonna tell you the same thing.
Nobody thinks hell is a good place.
Nobody's ever gonna say, if you go, hey, do you think hell's a good place?
They're not gonna go, oh yeah, yeah, I wanna go there someday.
Nobody thinks that.
Even people that aren't saved, even people that don't even necessarily believe in God,
a lot of people do believe in hell, even though they wouldn't say they believe in God.
Because even people that are like these extreme animal lovers,
when someone mistreats an animal, what do they say?
There's a special place in hell for people that abuse animals, right?
Or even people that aren't saved, when someone molests a child
or hurts somebody or is a serial killer, there's a special place in hell for that person, right?
When Ted Bundy was killed, he was executed.
He was a really horrific serial killer.
My mom said, she worked at Research at that time, which is a food place,
but they were all watching on the break room during his execution,
because they had televised it, and they put a Reese's like a burrito in the microwave
and did the countdown according to the television countdown on there,
and when it went ding, they were just like all excited that he got,
they nuked the burrito at the same time he got nuked.
And they celebrated the fact that he got killed.
So, I mean, people want judgment to happen,
but sometimes they just don't want it to happen to themselves.
So another term for hell in the Bible is the pit.
I'm sure if you've read the Bible at all, you understand that when it's talking about the pit,
it's usually talking, it could be talking about just a pit that someone would be thrown into, like a hole,
but there's also a spiritual application of the first mention in the pit.
Let's turn over to Genesis chapter 3, or 37, excuse me, verse 24.
Genesis chapter 37, verse 24.
Now, this is the first time the word pit is mentioned in the Bible.
Now, of course, you have Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed with fire,
and in the New Testament it says that it's eternal fire that they were destroyed by,
and even today, you can go to that area in the sulfur,
and you can still light it with a flame, and it'll still burn today.
So it makes sense. Nothing grows there today,
and that area was all like lush, tropical land like you would see in the land of Egypt.
Obviously, we probably think of desert when we see the land of Egypt,
but as you get closer to the Nile River, it's not like that.
And back in the day, it wasn't all desert like it is today.
So anyway, the first mention, if you want to take a spiritual application to this,
it is an actual pit that they throw him in,
a pit that was probably dug or just somehow this is a pit that he's thrown into,
but the spiritual application to it is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ being put into hell
because Joseph does picture the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 24, it says,
And they took him, talking about Joseph, and cast him into a pit,
and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
But one of the things about hell is that there's no water in it,
and there's no way to get a drink of water.
And it says in verse 25,
And they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked,
and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead
with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh,
going to carry it down to Egypt.
Now, there's a lot of aspects of this story that are all out of order,
but there's aspects that you could see that are picturing Jesus' life and death,
like they all sat down to eat bread,
and Jesus sat down with his 12 disciples and ate bread before he died, right?
And then you have the people that came,
the Ishmaelites, they lived in the east, right?
So you had people from the east that came,
and then it says they had spicery and balm and myrrh,
and those are the things that Jesus was buried,
you know, that he was embalmed with.
He was actually anointed with that before he died,
and then he was embalmed after he died.
So, and then it says, going to carry it down to Egypt.
When Jesus fled from, was fled with his parents,
where did he go? He went down to Egypt.
It says, And Judah said unto his brethren,
and Judah, if you put an S at the end of that, is Judas, right?
And Judah said unto his brethren,
What profit is it if we slay our brethren and conceal his blood?
Come, let us sell him. What did Judas do?
Judas sold Jesus, didn't he, for 30 pieces of silver,
but since Joseph was only 17 years old,
he was only worth 20 shekels of silver instead of 30.
It says, Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites,
and let not our hand be upon him,
for he is our brother and our flesh,
and his brethren were content.
So the Bible says that Jesus came to his own,
and his own received him not, right?
So when Jesus came to his brethren,
they rejected him, they hated him,
and Joseph's brothers hated him.
They couldn't even speak peaceably to him,
and that's how Jesus was treated when he came.
Look at verse 28, and it says,
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen,
and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit,
and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver.
And they brought Joseph unto Egypt,
and Reuben returned to the pit,
and behold, Joseph was not in the pit,
and he rented his clothes.
So this is kind of like Jesus coming back from the dead,
so to speak, like Reuben comes and he's not there.
When the disciples came to the tomb,
Jesus was not there, for he was risen, right?
But it says, and he returned to his brethren
and said, The child is not.
So he thinks that Joseph is dead,
and it says, And I whither shall I go?
So obviously Jesus didn't die,
I mean, he died, but he rose from the dead,
and Joseph didn't die in the pit.
He went to Egypt, and then he was alive.
He showed himself alive to his brethren.
Later on, many, many years later,
when he was the king of Egypt, basically,
except for Pharaoh was over him,
which is another picture of him being Christ,
because Christ is gonna be the king of kings,
Lord of lords, and God the Father is the only one
that would be over him.
And it says, And they took Joseph's coat
and killed the kid of the goats,
and dipped the coat in blood.
So this would be a spiritual picture
of Jesus going into hell, descending into hell,
his soul descending into hell,
and this is the first mention of the word pit.
Now turn to Numbers chapter 16, verse 29,
Numbers chapter 16, verse 29.
So I know that that's not the literal application of this,
but all scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and it's profitable for doctrine.
So the first mention of hell definitely
is just a straight up imagery of the punishment of hell.
Now, there's many different mentions of a pit or pits
that are not, obviously, hell,
but it usually doesn't say holes in the ground in the Bible,
it says pit, right?
But a pit is obviously talking about hell
in different passages here,
so look at Numbers chapter 16, verse 29,
this is the rebellion of Korah,
and so they're trying to overthrow Moses and Aaron
and take over the priesthood,
and Moses says this, he says,
If these men die the common death of all men,
or if they be visited after the visitation of all men,
then the Lord hath not sent me.
But if the Lord make a new thing,
and the earth open up her mouth and swallow them up
with all that appertain unto them,
and they go down quick into the pit,
then ye shall understand that these men
have provoked the Lord.
So Moses says, hey, these things are gonna happen,
or God didn't call me to be the leader of Israel, right?
And it says, and it came to pass,
as he had made an end of speaking all these words,
so right after he gets done saying it,
it says that the ground clave asunder,
that means it moved apart,
that was under them, and the earth opened her mouth,
this is not literally,
the earth doesn't literally have a mouth,
but it's just like, this is the imagery, right?
And swallowed them up, and their houses,
and all the men that appertained unto Korah
and all their goods, they and all that appertained to them
went down alive.
So what is happening here?
Well, the earth opens up just like Moses says,
and they all drop into the pit.
What is the pit?
The pit is hell.
They drop into the pit, and the earth closed upon them,
and they perished from among the congregation.
So they dropped, you know, people will say that term,
they split hell wide open,
this is where the term comes from.
These people split hell wide open,
and they dropped straight into hell from there alive,
and they perished from among the congregation,
and all of Israel that were round about them
fled at the cry of them,
for they said, lest the earth swallow us up also.
So this is a fearful thing for people to go to hell,
and this term, the pit here,
is talking about going to hell.
They dropped into hell, and it says,
and there came out a fire from the Lord,
and consumed the 250 men that offered incense.
So then here you have the imagery of fire
also associated with this pit.
Turn to Psalm 88 verse four,
I'm gonna read for you Psalm 55 verse 23.
Psalm 55 verse 23, you're going to Psalm chapter 88 verse four.
Psalm 55 verse 23 says,
but thou, oh God, shall bring them down
into the pit of destruction.
Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,
but I will trust in thee.
So what's he saying?
David is saying, or whoever the Psalmist is here says,
that God is gonna bring wicked men
down into the pit of destruction,
and bloody and deceitful men
shall not live out half their days.
So what is this pit that it's talking about?
Well it's talking about hell.
It's not just talking about just some shallow grave.
So look at Psalm 88 verse four.
Now I believe that this is prophetically speaking
of Jesus' soul going to hell,
and I think that this is very clear
because Jesus, when he was on the road to Emmaus,
he revealed to the men on the road to Emmaus
that he told them all the things
that were written about him in the Psalms,
and other specific books in the Bible,
and if this is talking about David,
did David ever go to hell?
Did David ever go to the pit?
Did David ever go to the lowest pit?
Did God's wrath lie upon David in the afterlife?
No it didn't.
So look what it says in verse four.
It says, I am counted with them that go down into the pit.
I am as a man that hath no strength,
free among the dead like the slain that lie in the grave,
whom thou rememberest no more.
You know one of the things about hell
is that it doesn't really matter what your name is anymore
because it doesn't matter because you're no longer alive.
Even with the rich man in Lazarus,
you notice how the rich man doesn't have a name?
It's because it doesn't matter what his name is anymore,
and Lazarus does have a name.
His name lives on forever,
but the men that are wicked,
they are not men of renown.
They're not gonna be known among the people.
It says, I am like the slain that lie in the grave,
whom thou rememberest no more,
and they are cut off from thy hand.
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,
in darkness, in the deeps.
So another thing about,
so if this is true,
if this is talking about Jesus here,
which I believe it is,
that it says thou hast laid me in the lowest pit.
Well, why would Jesus go to,
his soul go to the lowest hell?
Well, if every sin that every person
from Adam and Eve to the last person
on the face of the planet,
every sin that Jeffrey Dahmer committed,
every sin that Ted Bundy committed,
every sin that Adolf Hitler committed,
every sin that Charles Manson committed,
every sin that every homo
and every child molester committed
on the whole face of the earth
was placed upon Jesus,
then where would it make sense
if his soul did go to hell,
which the Bible says it did,
where would it make sense that his soul went?
Every false prophet's sin.
Where did it go?
It was placed upon Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
So wouldn't it make sense
that his soul would go to the lowest place in hell?
I'm not saying it stayed there,
so don't get all upset.
He rose from the dead, right?
But if it's not talking about Jesus,
is it talking about David?
Did David go to the lowest place in hell?
David never spent one second in hell.
Nobody that's saved has ever spent one second in hell,
but Jesus' soul was not left in hell, the Bible says,
in Acts chapter two, verse 31.
So it says,
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness.
The other thing about hell, you know,
people are like,
oh yeah, I'm just gonna go to hell,
I'm so happy I'm gonna go to hell
and hang out with my friends.
In darkness?
Is that where you're gonna go
and hang out with your friends in darkness?
Isn't that what it says?
Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness.
The Bible says it's outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
That's not having fun with your friends.
If you're gonna go to hell,
you're not having fun there.
You're not playing cards like the Looney Tunes shows
where you're all hanging out with your friends
and playing cards and gambling and drinking beer.
You're gonna go to hell to be punished.
There's no hanging out with your friends.
Your friends might be there,
but they're gonna be screaming
in some other area of hell.
It says in the deeps,
thy wrath lieth hard upon me.
So you're gonna be experiencing the wrath of God
and this is what the psalmist is talking about.
Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,
thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.
Now that term waves is talking about waves of wrath.
And so when Jesus did go to hell
for three days and three nights,
his soul, his body was in the tomb,
his soul was in hell for three days and three nights,
then what this is saying,
if I'm interpreting this correctly,
which I believe that I am,
it says thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.
All the punishment that ever could be given
was given to Jesus in those three days and three nights
and so that's why it was as if he was in hell forever.
Because he experienced all of it
in those three days and three nights.
So when he rose from the dead,
it says he was loosed from the pains of death.
Well, the last time I checked,
if you're just in the grave in your body
and your soul's just resting somewhere,
you're not in pain.
Your body is, if your soul and spirit are out of your body,
what pain are you experiencing?
But yet the Bible says in Acts chapter two
that Jesus was loosed from the pains of death.
Death is hell.
That's what death is.
When saints die, when saved people die,
they don't experience hell at all.
We never have to set foot in hell.
We never have.
Because Jesus was the lamb
slain from the foundation of the earth
and because people have always had faith in God
from the time of Adam and Eve
till now and in the future,
nobody has ever had to set foot in hell.
There is no such thing as Abraham's bosom.
There is no such thing as purgatory.
That is all phony baloney.
That's not true.
Abraham's bosom might as well be Baptist purgatory.
It's not true.
It's made up.
It's in the Apocrypha.
It's not in the Bible.
Now, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus,
yeah, Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom,
but a bosom is a chest part,
in case you didn't understand that.
Bosom is just like this area right here.
He's giving him a hug.
He's like, come on.
He's comforted.
When you give somebody a hug,
isn't that comforting someone?
He's like, come on up, buddy.
You're not gonna have to have the dogs
lick your sores anymore.
You're comforted.
And so when the rich man's speaking to him,
that's what it means.
It's not saying that it's some cavity in hell
that's like Paradise Hotel or something
where all the good people go,
and then when Jesus died,
he went down and broke them out of the good prison camp
that was the good hell or whatever.
That's just garbage.
It's not true.
So anyway, it says,
Thou has afflicted me with all thy waves,
Selah.
Thou has put away mine acquaintance far from me.
Thou hast made me an abomination unto them.
I am shut up,
and I cannot come forth.
So Jesus, when he was in hell for three days
and three nights,
he could not come forth,
but God the Father raised him from the dead.
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit
raised him from the dead.
Jesus did not belong there,
because Jesus himself did not sin,
and so therefore Jesus was able to be raised from the dead.
But anybody else,
they cannot come forth.
They cannot,
once you're in hell,
you're not escaping from hell.
The Bible says that it's appointed on a man
once to die,
and after this the judgment.
If you're saved,
you go straight to heaven to be with God,
and forever you'll be with the Lord,
and he's gonna give us a glorified body
that we'll have forever.
When he comes back,
and he raises the bodies from the dead,
they'll go back into the souls and spirits
that they belong to.
The souls and spirits will go back into that body
they belong to,
but the people that die,
they instantly wake up in hell.
I'll show you that verse later on,
but it says,
my eye mourneth,
mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction.
So this isn't just talking about going into a grave.
You're not afflicted when you're in the ground,
in a body.
When your soul and spirit leave your body,
your body doesn't feel anything after that.
So this is talking about afterlife.
Lord, I have called daily upon thee.
I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
So the only way you're getting out
is if God gets you out,
and he's not letting people out.
You have one time,
one chance to get saved in this life,
and once your eyes shut for the last time,
your mortal body goes to sleep for the last time.
If you didn't choose to be saved,
if you didn't choose Jesus Christ,
and you didn't believe in him,
then you're going to hell.
It's that simple,
and it's sad.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 14 verse number 12,
Isaiah 14, 12.
This is written to the king of Babylon,
but it's also written to Satan himself,
and this is the only passage in the Bible
that tells us of his name, Lucifer.
Satan is his name now,
but Lucifer was his original name.
It says in Isaiah chapter 14 verse 12,
it says,
How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning?
How art thou cut down to the ground
which did weaken the nations?
For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation
in the sides of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will be like the most high.
See,
Lucifer didn't like the fact
that he wasn't the top dog,
and God does not share his throne
with his creation like that.
You're not going to rule over God.
Satan wanted to ascend over the top of God,
and he wanted to be like the most high.
It says,
Yet thou shalt be brought,
where?
Down to hell.
To the sides of what?
The pit.
So there you have
where you see hell and the pit
being both in the same verse there.
So now there's the connection
where you see hell and the pit
being used simultaneously
as the same thing.
Now you know for sure
that the hell and the pit
are exactly the same thing.
So it says,
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee
and consider thee,
saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble
and did shake the kingdoms,
that made the world as a wilderness
and destroyed the cities thereof,
that opened up the house of his prisoners?
All the kings of the nations,
even all of them,
lie in glory,
everyone in his own house,
but thou art cast out of thy grave
like an abominable branch,
and as the raiment of those that are slain,
thrust through with the sword
that go down to the stories,
oh excuse me,
the stones of the pit,
as a carcass trodden under feet.
So Satan's doom is going to be
to be cast into hell in the end,
and there he will ever be.
And like I said,
the other names of hell in the Bible
would be outer darkness,
the lake of fire is where hell
ends up being,
hell is moved from the center of the earth
at the final judgment,
and is called the outer darkness
and the lake of fire.
Hell, death and hell are cast into the lake of fire,
that is the second death.
So what are some other truths
about the reality of hell?
Well,
let's look at some other truths,
look at Mark chapter nine verse 43.
Mark chapter nine verse 43
is a very famous passage,
it's very redundantly,
Jesus redundantly just keeps saying
the same things over and over again
because I think he wants us to get the point here.
He wants people to understand
just how horrific hell is,
and I think this is very horrific imagery
that he's using,
and it's not because
he wants us to think that hell isn't real,
he wants us to know hell is real,
and he wants to warn people away from it.
So,
one truth here is that it's better
to go into heaven missing body parts
than to go to hell.
Look at verse 43,
it says,
and if thy hand offend thee,
cut it off,
it is better for thee to enter into life,
like going to heaven,
maimed than having two hands
to go into hell,
into the fire that never shall be quenched.
So,
the first thing,
one of the first realities of hell
is it's better to enter into life,
maimed,
not having one of your hands.
It'd be better to have,
you know,
go into heaven with just one hand
than to have two to go into hell.
So,
you know,
it'd be,
so like,
nobody wants to have just one hand.
I mean,
everybody wants to have both hands, right?
Who wants to have one of your hands removed right now?
Anybody?
I don't.
But it'd be better to go into heaven
with only having one
than to go to hell
having two hands.
And number two,
hell is a place of fire
that never goes out.
Hell is a place of fire
that never goes out.
Look at verse 43 again.
It says,
and if thy right hand offend thee,
cut it off,
it is better for thee to enter into life,
maimed than having two hands
to go into hell,
into the fire
that never shall be quenched.
So,
into fire
that never shall be quenched.
I've already mentioned before,
hell is a place of fire,
but one aspect of that fire
is it never shall be quenched.
Most of the times,
if you've seen a fire,
fires eventually burn out,
don't they?
But not this fire.
This fire
never
shall be quenched.
It's a fire
that's an eternal fire
that never goes out.
Number three,
people in hell's corpses,
their corpse never dies.
It never burns up.
It never ceases to exist
even though it's on fire
that's never quenched.
Look at verse 44.
It says,
where their worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
So, that term worm,
I used to believe
that it was talking about
that you're eaten by some kind of worms
or something
like when you're in hell
because in the grave,
we do get eaten by kind of worms
and whatever bugs get to you
or whatever
if you're buried.
But,
I don't believe
that that's what that's saying anymore.
What does the term worm
actually mean
in this passage?
I believe it means
any,
because in the dictionary,
it'll say
any of numerous relatively small,
elongated,
usually naked
and soft bodied animals.
It could be that,
you know,
worms,
like earthworms,
right?
Or a pinworm or a grub
or a shipworm
or a slowworm
or whatever
kind of worm.
But,
the second definition
is a human being
who is an object of contempt,
loathing,
or pity.
A wretch.
That's the second definition.
So,
human beings can be
considered a worm
if they're an object of contempt,
loathing,
or pity.
So,
in Psalm,
turn to Isaiah 66,
verse 24.
Psalm chapter,
actually,
yeah,
keep your finger in Mark,
I'm sorry,
keep your finger in Mark 9.
I'm gonna try to pull off
the pastor of minutes
here real quick.
Mark chapter 9,
keep your finger here.
And I'm just gonna
have you turn to Isaiah 66,
and while you're turning there,
I'm gonna read
Psalm 22, verse 6,
where Jesus is prophesying
about being persecuted
on the cross.
In Psalm 22, verse 6,
it says,
but I am a worm
and no man
a reproach of men
and despised
of the people.
So,
Jesus calls himself
a worm in the Psalm
and a reproach
of men
and despised
of the people.
You're in Isaiah 66,
verse 24.
It says,
and they shall go forth
and look upon the carcasses
of the men that have transgressed
against me,
for their worm
shall not die.
You see that?
So,
it's quoting,
or,
Mark,
or Jesus is quoting
in Mark 9,
the worm
that's taught,
that is actually coming
from Isaiah 66,
but first it says,
look upon the carcasses
of the men
that have transgressed
against me.
Then it has that colon there
and it says,
for their worm
shall not die,
neither shall their fire
be quenched.
So,
it's comparing carcasses,
so carcass and worm
are kind of synonymous
with each other there.
It says,
and they shall be
an abhorring
to all flesh.
So,
when Jesus said,
I'm a worm
and a reproach of men,
that does kind of go
with that definition
of a human being
who's an object
of contempt and loathing
and then,
in Isaiah 66,
it says,
you know,
that they're gonna be
an abhorring
unto all flesh
and,
you know,
several years ago,
Manley Perry
preached that doctrine
and he was like,
well,
you know,
nobody burns in hell,
is what he said.
He said,
nobody burns in hell,
you know,
and he's like,
you might,
you know,
you might
say that everybody burns
like a hot dog
or whatever
and he said,
but,
and that might make
for good preaching,
he said something
along those lines,
but nobody burns in hell.
Now,
he retracted that statement
because he got really
taken to task
over that,
but,
you know,
out of the abundance
of the heart,
the mouth speaketh,
you know.
He obviously didn't understand
what the Bible
is saying here
or he would have
never said that.
So,
turn,
flip back to Mark 9
where we were at
because,
yes,
you do burn like a hot dog,
but that hot dog
never,
never goes away.
So,
because a hot dog
kind of looks like a worm
when you first take it
out of the package,
right?
Doesn't it?
But see,
you know when you
accidentally,
you're like cooking hot dogs
at the campfire,
you know,
and it kind of has that,
it gets all charcoal-y
when you actually,
kids will do this
a lot of times,
they'll drop it in the fire
or whatever
and it's got ashes
all over it,
you gotta pull the ashes
out of it.
So,
it's like,
you know,
a charcoal-looking hot dog
on the end of the stick,
who's like gone camping
and put hot dogs on sticks?
Okay.
All right,
all right.
So,
it's like,
but that,
so like if you think
of that as a human being
in hell,
that hot dog
just never burns up,
it just stays on fire
and it just never goes,
it never goes out,
it just stays on fire.
And I mean,
I guess,
the hot dog is a,
might be a bad analogy
or whatever,
but it does kind of
change it.
I mean,
obviously,
it's a horrific thing
for a human being
to be subject to a fire
that never goes out.
Look what it says
in verse 45,
it says,
and if thy foot offend thee,
cut it off.
It is better for thee
to enter halt
into life
than having two feet
to be cast into hell
into the fire
that never shall be quenched,
where their worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
So,
what's he saying?
That body
is never gonna die.
That body's not gonna die,
it's always gonna experience pain,
it's always gonna be on fire,
but it's never
going to
die.
Which seems weird because
it's called the second death.
So,
you're not really living though
if you're just completely
on fire all the time.
You never eat,
you never drink,
and you're just constantly
tormented.
That's not really living,
is it?
You're not alive.
But,
because your body's alive,
but it's not really living,
is it?
I mean,
who would say that like
being on fire constantly
and being tormented
and screaming all the time
is living?
I wouldn't call that living.
I would be like,
please just let me
not exist anymore.
Which is what people think,
they're like,
well how could God
do that to somebody?
Well,
how could people
be stupid enough
to not believe in God?
How could people
be stupid enough
to choose to go to hell
when they had a choice
to go to heaven?
It says,
the fire is not quenched.
That means it never goes out.
And if thine 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.
So he's telling us
over and over again
in this passage,
hey,
don't go to hell.
It's better to have
a limb missing,
an eye missing,
a foot,
a man missing,
than it is to have
these things
and go to hell with them.
Where their worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
But he makes specifically
sure to say in verse 47
that it is not just
some regular fire.
It's not a natural fire
like we experience
on this earth.
It is hell fire
and hell fire
never,
ever,
ever goes out.
Amen.
Why does Jesus
keep repeating it?
Is it because it's
just figurative?
No,
he's repeating a lot
because it's true.
And it's something
to avoid.
This is what false prophets
and false religions teach
is that it does go out.
You do burn up.
It isn't real.
And they're leading people
actually further to hell
by teaching this garbage.
There was a pastor
several years ago now
named Rob Bell.
Rob Bell is from
Mars Hill Bible Church
in Michigan.
How do you call it
a Bible church
when you don't even
believe what the Bible says?
But he wrote a book
called Love Wins.
Sounds like a queer.
Anyway,
a book about heaven,
hell and the fate
of every person
who ever lived.
In the book,
Bell suggests that
Jesus' redemptive work
may be universal.
So he's a universal person
that believes that
everybody is saved
because Jesus died
on the cross.
He believes the idea
that the place
of eternal torment
is incompatible
with the God of love.
See,
this is what happens
when you only preach
positive stuff,
you only preach
the love of God,
and you never preach
the other attributes
that God has.
Because God is
a God of love.
God is love.
But he's also
a God of judgment.
He's also a God of wrath.
He's also a God
that does have
his limits,
although he is merciful.
Although he is
long suffering.
He is still a God
that punishes sin.
He has to.
He's a God of judgment.
And he sent
his only begotten son
to us so that
we could avoid
that judgment.
He's done everything
he could to possibly
get us into heaven,
but people still
choose to go to hell.
And then people
want to blame him
for people that go to hell.
Oh, my family member
went to hell,
or my family member died.
Well, you know what?
He's done everything
he could do.
He can't make you
go to heaven.
That's one thing
he won't do.
He lets us choose.
People are like,
well, God just allowed
this to happen.
No, you allowed it
to happen.
They allowed it
to happen.
You can't have it
both ways.
People are like,
well, why would God
just allow bad things
to happen?
Well, do you want
to be a robot,
or do you want
to have free will?
Which one is it?
Because they get mad
when people go,
oh, you guys are just
going to want.
Do you want us
to shove it
down your throat?
Do you want to be
forced to believe,
or do you want to
have a choice
in the matter?
You can't have
it both ways,
but Rob Bell's book
caused controversy
in Christian circles.
Yeah, you can say that.
Again, if hell's not real,
what are we being
saved for?
Why is he even a pastor?
What are you preaching?
If everybody's saved,
what's the point
of even having church?
Seriously.
Like, oh, we're all
saved?
Well, cool.
We'll just eat, drink,
and be merry,
for tomorrow we die,
and we're all in heaven,
right?
Well, like,
I don't get it.
Why would you even
want to go to church?
Just live your life.
But you know what?
It's not true,
and that guy
is sending people
to hell by the droves,
and people want
to have an excuse
why they don't
have to go to hell,
and they love
to probably cling
to false prophets
like this because
it makes them feel
good about their sin.
Oh, you can be a queer
and still go to heaven?
Sure, yeah.
Let's do it.
You can do
whatever you want
and still go to heaven.
No, that's not true.
Carlton Pearson
is another one
I've never heard of
until I was just
looking up people
that believe this,
but his name is
Bishop Carlton Pearson
was a mega church leader
in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Was because he died
a few years back.
But he had
a crisis of faith
and came to believe
that the doctrine
of hell was
inconsistent with
God's mercy.
Sounds like Rob Bell.
He advocated
for fag rights
and questioned
core doctrine.
Said gay rights,
but I'm for gay rights.
I want everybody
to be happy.
So, but yeah,
I wonder why
he advocated for that.
Anyway,
I'm always suspect
of these pastors
that are just like,
yeah, I fight
for gay rights.
Okay, well,
I'm suspect of you
immediately when that happens.
But he was considered
a heretic by many
religious circles.
Yeah,
I would consider that.
He was the story
of the subject
of the Netflix film
Come Sunday.
In a video released
by his followers,
to his followers,
he said,
and this should be
really telling
of what his real
problem is.
He said,
I'm facing death,
but I'm not afraid
of dying.
I don't fear God.
And if I was going
to fear anybody,
I'd fear some of his
so-called people
because they can be
some mean sons of
biscuit eaters,
as my brother
used to say.
So he doesn't fear God.
He fears his people.
That's your problem.
You don't fear God.
You're an apostate.
You're a false prophet,
and that's why
in November of 2021,
he died and went to hell
for all eternity.
I'm sure he fears God now
as he's roasting
in hell
for all eternity.
And really,
this is kind of like,
these people
buy into this
Christian universalism.
And what this is
is the belief
that teaches that hell
is a later creation
of the church
and is not supported
by the Bible.
Well, you know,
when you have
modern Bible verses
that calls it Hades
and Sheol
and whatever else
they want to put
in the word hell,
like the Bible should
actually say
in all those verses,
they want to just,
you know, use,
oh, Sheol.
What does Sheol mean?
It means hell.
That's what it means.
But then the modern
translations like
the New King James version
will take hell
out of the Bible
and put Sheol.
Nobody knows
what that means.
Like I said earlier,
you go out and ask people,
what do you think
hell's like?
And they know
exactly what it is.
But nobody knows
what Sheol is.
Like a shield,
like something to block
and protect yourself with.
That's what people,
in the New World Order
Bible versions movie,
they went out and did
like these interviews
with people and said,
what is Sheol?
You know,
people don't know
what that is,
but they know what hell is.
Everybody knows
what hell is.
And so these modern
Bible versions,
they say,
oh, we're just,
we're trying to update
the language
and make it more
understandable.
Oh, really?
Well, then you should
not take hell
out of the Bible then.
But that's what they do.
They never have
answers for that.
When you ask them,
well, why do you
do that then?
They never want to
answer those questions,
I notice,
these little perverts,
these Bible pervertors.
So it says,
in this article,
it says,
Christian Universalism
is a school
of Christian theology
focused around
the doctrine
of universal reconciliation.
The view that
all human beings
will ultimately be saved
and restored
to a right relationship
with God.
It's heresy.
It's what it is.
Many people
see Jesus
as a moral
exemplar
who personified
acceptance,
compassion,
and inclusion.
Although,
they do not
recognize him
as God.
So,
they're just
wrong about
everything,
pretty much.
Universalism
focuses exclusively
on God's love
and mercy
and ignores
his holiness,
justice,
and wrath.
It also
assumes that
God's love
depends
on the
sins
on what
he does
for humanity
rather than
being a
self-existing
attribute of God
present from
eternity
before man
was created.
So basically,
they just
kind of like
choose the things
that they like
out of the Bible
and then they
just discard
the things
that they
don't like.
They don't like
the negative
parts.
They only like
the positive
parts.
This is my old
sermon
on our
YouTube page
and made
some shorts
out of it
in honor
of him dying
and going
to hell.
So,
that was
seven years
ago,
a couple
days ago.
But,
I wanted
to read,
and he
basically
turned into
one of these
universalists.
People get
really upset
about talking
bad about
what he
said on this
program.
It's on
YouTube.
You can look
at what he
said.
You can hear
out of his
own mouth,
out of his
own lips,
what he
said.
And you can
get mad
about it
all you
want,
but he
was on a
program
called
the Power
of Power
with
Robert
Shuler.
They're
members
of the
body of
Christ.
God is
calling
people
out of
the world
for his
name.
Whether
they come
from the
Muslim world
or the
Buddhist world
or the
non-believing
world.
They are
members
of the
body of Christ.
Oh,
that's
funny.
He says they're all members of the body of Christ
because they have been called by God.
They may not know the name of Jesus,
I'm trying to use his voice,
but they know in their hearts that they need something
they do not have and they turn to the only light they have.
I think that they are saved
and they're going to be with us in heaven.
How can you say that Billy Graham is saved
and that he got people saved when he's spouting off
this kind of garbage in 1997?
This was from 1997, he lived way past that.
He just died like in 2018.
So he was saying that kind of garbage then
before he was preaching repent of your sins
and turn from your sins and stop sinning
and all kinds of garbage.
Yeah, he would say yeah, you got to believe in Jesus
and stuff like that,
but he was also adding other stuff to it.
He was always a snake.
He wasn't like a good guy and then he turned bad.
He was always bad.
He was always preaching garbage.
And so seeking clarification,
this Schuler guy who was a weirdo too,
he had these Kool-Aid eyes,
and he says, what I hear you saying
that it's possible for Jesus to come into human hearts
and soul and life even if they have been born in darkness
and have never had exposure to the Bible.
Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?
So he's asking him to say,
he's just clarifying, right?
Graham answered, yes, it is.
Case closed, folks.
He's a false prophet.
I mean, why is that so hard for people to understand?
Schuler replied, I'm so thrilled to hear you say this.
There's a wideness in God's mercy.
And Graham added, there is, there definitely is.
There.
That is damnable heresy, folks.
If you're non-believing, that means you don't believe.
That means you're already condemned.
I mean, there's so many Bible verses
that fly in the face of what he said.
You have to believe in Jesus or you're gonna go to hell.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And that kind of stuff is sending people to hell.
That is ecumenicalism.
That is universalism.
That's why Billy Graham is up at the Vatican
with all these other different religions
while they're waving their little fans and burning incense
and all these different Buddhists and stuff.
He was kissing the Pope's ring and kissing his big toe.
I mean, he was friends with the Pope.
He's friends with Johnny Carson.
He's on The Tonight Show.
Do you think that I would ever get invited
onto The Tonight Show?
I don't even know if they have The Tonight Show anymore.
I know Johnny Carson died, but there's no way.
They wouldn't even have any, I mean,
they'll have the phony pastors on Larry King Live
and all that kind of stuff,
but they're never gonna have a real man of God on there.
These, and here's another thing
that these false religions teach, annihilationism.
This is what the Jehovah's Witnesses teach.
This is what the Seventh-day Adventists teach.
They teach that, yeah, people do go to hell,
but they're annihilated.
The hot dog does burn up, so to speak.
They do, the worm does die.
The worm does burn up.
But doesn't that fly in the face
of what Jesus clearly said in Mark chapter nine?
It clearly flies in the face of that, doesn't it?
It never is quenched.
The fire never goes out.
The worm does not die.
Your body never burns up in hell.
It's forever and ever and ever and ever and ever
and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever
and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever.
It never stops.
Amen.
That's the truth of the matter.
So these people are, you know,
people are always like,
why are you making fun of Billy Graham?
Why do you hate on him so much?
Did you talk to him before he died?
No.
I don't think he's taking my phone calls.
I'm like, why are you making fun of Ravi Zacharias
and they're charlatans, they're phonies, they're fakes.
Dude, look, people that are false prophets
are sending people to hell.
That's why I hate them.
God hates them.
God wants them destroyed.
Once they're destroyed, they're going to hell.
He loves them no more.
See, God does stop loving people.
And people are like, well, when does God stop loving people?
Do you think that he stops loving them
when they're in hell?
Does he still love them?
Or does he remember them no more?
He forgets their names.
Does their name matter anymore?
It does not matter anymore.
But your name matters if you're in heaven.
Your name matters if you're saved.
So what's another thing that
is important to know about hell?
Well, the wicked go there in Psalm,
go ahead and turn to Revelation 20, verse 11.
I'll read Psalm 9, verse 17.
It says, the wicked shall be turned into hell
and all the nations that forget God.
The wicked shall be turned into hell
and all the nations that forget God.
These atheistic nations,
as a whole, I mean, obviously there's a remnant
that is saved in every nation,
but these ones that want to be atheists and communists,
we're fighting in this country to stop,
to not be communists.
I mean, it's like, what, you can't learn your lesson
from all the other communist nations
that have been total hell holes?
They take all your guns and stuff
and throw you in gulags,
and you're like, oh yeah, let's do that.
Yeah, sounds like a good idea.
Let's be total slaves to our government like China,
like Russia was.
Revelation 20, verse 11 says,
and I saw a great white throne.
This is the great white throne judgment,
and him that sat on it,
from whose face the earth and heaven fled away,
and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God,
and the books were opened, and another book was opened,
which is the book of life,
and the dead were judged out of the things
which were written in the books according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it,
and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them,
and they were judged, every man, according to their works.
So what's gonna happen?
Well, God's gonna pull out the books,
and if you're in the book of life,
you're gonna go to heaven.
But the dead that are in hell,
they're gonna be judged according to their works.
And guess what?
If you're judged according to your works,
you're not gonna go to heaven,
because everybody has sinned.
And if you're judged according
to the deeds that you've done,
one sin is good enough to get you thrown into hell,
so guess what?
When you're judged by your works, you're going to hell.
Nobody can work their way to heaven.
It's not of works, lest any man should boast.
Look at verse 14, it says,
and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire.
Hey, if your name's not written in that book,
you're going into the lake of fire.
That's all there is to it.
So people have like this moment of reprieve, maybe,
to where they're just called up,
given back their worm bodies,
and then they're cast into the lake of fire.
They're judged for the final judgment.
God pronounces that judgment upon them.
They're done forever.
And who are the type of people that go there?
Well, Revelation 21, verse eight says,
but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable
and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers
and idolaters and all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death.
So who goes there?
The wicked go there.
And hey, we've all been wicked, too.
As if you're saved today, you were wicked once.
But you know, people don't have to go there
if they get saved.
This is the warning.
You know, we are warned to stay away from hell,
and we don't wanna go where the devil and the angels were.
That place was not created for us.
It was created for the devil and his angels.
Look at, I'll just read for you Matthew 25.
Go ahead and turn to, you're in Revelation 20.
I'm just gonna read Matthew 25, 41 for you real quick.
I gotta hurry up and finish this.
Then they, so hell was created for the devil and his angels.
It says in Matthew 25, 41, it says,
then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels.
So Jesus will send, and does send human beings to hell,
to everlasting fire.
See, right, I mean, just that verse there says
it's everlasting fire.
Prepared for the devil and his angels.
Revelation 20, verse 10 says,
and the devil that deceived them
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
So that torment to the devil and his angels is,
again, it lasts forever and ever.
Jude 1, six says, and the angels was kept
not their first estate but left their own habitation.
He hath reserved into everlasting chains under darkness
unto the judgment of that of the great day.
So the angels and the devil will all be in hell.
It was created for them, it was prepared for them,
but human beings fell,
and therefore they are cast into hell also.
So, and I've already kind of hit on the topic
of it being a punishment that lasts forever,
but, so I'll skip that, but Revelation 14, 10 and 11
also say if you take the mark of the beast,
that that torment ascendeth up forever and ever,
there's no rest day or night.
And again, you know, people will say, like,
hell is separation from God, right?
This is what preachers will say to dumb down the gospel.
Turn to Revelation 14 real quick,
and I'll cover that just real quickly.
I know I gotta hurry up here,
but I don't have time to finish my notes,
but I've only been preaching for an hour,
so it was the announcements that went along.
It was your fault.
So, it's Ryland's fault.
Somebody's fault, it's not mine.
Blame the people, no, I'm just kidding.
Revelation 14, 10 says,
and the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation,
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone,
does it say separated from the lamb?
No, it says in the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the lamb.
So, you think that hell is separation from God?
Well, where are they getting that from?
Because they're not getting that from the Bible.
Hell is not separation from God.
And even in Psalm 139, seven, it says,
whither shall I go from my spirit,
or whither shall I flee from my presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
There's no way to escape the presence of the Lord.
Jonah was just being foolish
when he thought he could escape,
he could flee from the presence of the Lord.
God's everywhere.
And certainly going to hell
is not escaping the presence of the Lord.
So, you know, in my final thoughts,
I would just say, if you're not saved,
you better get saved.
And if you're not afraid of God,
you better get afraid of God.
You better start to fear him.
Because once your mortal body dies, you are done.
And I was gonna go into the story in Luke 16,
but I just don't have time for that,
but it's a good one to read.
The rich man lifts up his eyes in hell being in torments,
and Lazarus is comforted.
But we should fear the Lord.
The Bible says in Proverbs 1.7,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Don't be a fool.
Fools are the ones that go to hell.
And in Matthew it says,
and fear not then which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
People are afraid of so many things,
but you know who you should really be afraid of?
The one that can actually,
after the body is already dead,
throw you into hell.
That's who you should actually fear.
Fear God.
God is the one that can actually throw you in hell.
The devil can't throw you in hell.
The devil can't do that, but God can.
And the Bible says in Revelation 22, 17,
it says, and the spirit and the bride say come,
and let him that hear us say come,
and let him that is athirst come.
Don't wait till you're dead in hell
and you're so thirsty you can never get a drink of water.
Hey, he says, if you're thirsty now, come.
He says, and whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely.
I'd rather have the water of life that's free
and it lasts forever,
and not have to worry about scrounging
for a drip of water and be in hell.
So the only way to avoid hell
is to take the free gift of salvation,
to put your faith and trust in Christ,
and never fear hell again.
That's why I got saved.
In Jude it says, and if some have compassion
making a difference, people are like,
why are you preaching about this, Pastor Thompson?
We already know about hell.
Well, not everybody does.
And maybe not everybody in here is saved, I don't know.
But it says another is saved with fear,
pulling them out of the fire,
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
You know, some people do just get saved
through our compassion and whatever,
and they already know about hell and everything,
but some need to have the hell scared into them.
They need to fear hell,
and ultimately God is the one that puts people there,
so they need to fear the person
that can actually put them in there.
And Jesus experienced death and hell for you,
so you'd never have to experience it for one second.
And so if you're not saved, you better get saved.
And if you're not fearing the Lord,
you should fear him today
so that you can have that wisdom to get saved.
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you so much for the Bible.
Thank you so much for a sure doctrine
that we can get from the Bible.
Lord, I pray that we'd be able to discern
our right hand from our left,
and that we'd be able to show people.
And Lord, that we'd care about people.
Lord, there's so many people
that just go to hell every single day.
I pray that you'd help us
to have compassion in our hearts for people,
and that we would love people,
and we'd tell them about you.
Tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ
so they could get saved.
I pray that you'd help us to discern
when we need to turn it on and just show them
just how horrible hell really is.
And Lord, that we know that there's many people
that are going there.
I pray that you just help us to have compassion,
and that we'd have our first love for you
by doing the first work.
So in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
And our last song this morning would be page 304.
Nothing Between, page 304.
Nothing Between, page 304,
listed up to the Lord on the first.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
not of this world's delusive dream.
I have renounced all sinful pleasure,
Jesus is mine, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
so that His blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of His favor.
Keep the way clear, there's nothing between.
Nothing between like worldly pleasure,
habits of life, though harmless they seem,
must not my heart from Him ever sever.
He is my all, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
so that His blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of His favor.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between.
Nothing between like bride, like station,
self or friend shall not intervene,
though it may cost me much tribulation.
I am resolved, there's nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
so that His blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of His favor.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between,
on the last, nothing between,
and many hard trials,
though the whole world against me convene,
watching with prayer and much self-denial,
I'll triumph at last with nothing between.
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
so that His blessed face may be seen.
Nothing preventing the least of His favor.
Keep the way clear, let nothing between.
Amen, thanks for visiting this morning.
Love to see you back here this afternoon.
Great sermon pastor,
and hope you guys get a good lunch in.
Brother Alex, you wanna end us
with a word of prayer this morning?
Dear Lord, thank you for your word
and the clear doctrine of health,
and thank you for the clear preaching of that this morning.
Amen.