If There's a Hell I Ain'T Going — E.A. Johnston

Asking People What They Believe About Salvation

I challenge your friends to go out and do something today. Go out and talk to folks about their salvation, about eternity, and get their thoughts on it. I was sitting with a man on a bench, and he informed me he was three things.

He said he was a Scientologist, a Catholic, and a Christian, and he held a very high opinion of himself. Finally, I said to him, Do you think you will go to hell? Then watch their reaction. They might get offended, or they may even laugh, but you won't find one person who thinks they will go to hell when they die.

And if the posters are right, then hell must be a pretty lonely and empty place with just a few serial killers in there, along with Hitler. I never forget a story that I read about D .O. Moody, who was invited to go preach in a prison.

Moody's Prison Encounter With Guilt and Pardon

Moody said he stood in the end of a long cell block and spoke about Jesus, told the man about the one who came down here so we could go up there. Moody said I couldn't see their faces as I preached to them, so when I was done, I made it a point to stop by every cell and talk to the men.

I asked each one a question. I asked, Why are you here? And just about every prisoner to the letter said he was innocent, he didn't belong there, he was just wrongly accused, except one man that I heard weeping down at the very end of the cell block.

The Need to Confess Sin and Receive Salvation

And as I approached his cell, I asked him, Tell me, friend, why are you here? And the man confessed to the most awful crimes. Then he said, Mr. Moody, what must I do to be saved? Moody then led the penitent man to Christ that day, and Moody later commented, I learned that day there was only one man in that entire prison who was guilty and ready to receive pardon.

He admitted his crime and saw his need. The others were all innocent men, just wrongly accused. And that's how most folks consider themselves, friends, and how they think in regard to hell. They'll tell you, If there's a hell, I ain't going.

Self-Flattery and the Deception of Personal Goodness

And that's the title of my message this evening, friends. If there's a hell, I ain't going. Most men flatter themselves as if there was no hell, or if there is a place called hell. They believe firmly that God will not deal so harshly with them as to damn them there.

After all, they are basically honest, good people who've never committed any violent crimes against their fellow man. As Psalm 36 .2 states, He flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.

So multitudes flatter themselves that when it comes their time to die, they will be all right because of the good opinion they have of themselves, and the concept of God they hold. I was playing golf with a man who had the filthiest mouth.

Being Given Over to a Reprobate Mind

Every time he missed a shot, which was frequently, he cussed and took God's name in vain. Finally I turned to him and asked, How is your relationship with God? He flashed a big grin and said, Fine, I have a great relationship with God.

I leave Him alone, and He leaves me alone. And that's all you have to do for something like that to take place, friend, for a man to go on to hell, that God leaves him alone. Romans 1 .28 declares,. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.

And in Jeremiah 6 .30, we see a picture of such a person turned over to their own ways and rejected of God, a reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. It breaks my heart to see a Hollywood legend die, who brought the world entertainment, but who lived like the devil while he was here, and then to read the tributes by his entertainer friends.

The False Promise of Rest in Peace

Everybody in Hollywood thinks they're going to heaven when they die because they entertained people and made them laugh. They'll write to their departed friend, Rest in peace. That's one of their favorite comments.

But my Bible says in Isaiah 57 .20 and 21,. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Go on out there, friends, and just talk to folks about their soul, and most will inform you that they are good people, and they will say, If there's a hell I ain't going, let us pray.