Awake in Hell — E.A. Johnston

An itinerant evangelist was driving through the city of St. Louis on a Sunday and decided to park his car at a downtown church to attend Sunday service. As he entered the sanctuary, he realized that he was the only white person in an all-black church.

He took his seat in the back while up on the platform a dignified elderly pastor spoke on the glories of heaven. This pastor was saying, some folks call heaven paradise, others refer to it as Abraham's bosom, but let me tell you what I think heaven is like.

Here comes Jesus, fresh from his earthly ministry, and Gabriel greets him with a big smile and says, hello Jesus, sure is good to see you again, welcome home Jesus. But who is that with you Jesus, is that that thief on the cross?

Oh no sir, we can't have any thieves up here Jesus. Just then Jesus places his arm around the thief and hugs him saying, never you mind Gabriel, never you mind, he's with me. I like that story because it's true friend, the only way a person is going to enter the portals of heaven is because of Jesus Christ saying to the father, he's with me.

And the father looking at that poor sinner washed in the blood and reconciled back to him and saying, welcome home child. But the flip side of heaven is a place called hell, and my message today is on the subject of hell.

The Forgotten Doctrine of Eternal Hell

Old time preachers often preached on the doctrine of an eternal hell with the purpose to awaken their hearers to their great danger of dying in their sins and going there to that place of misery and torments.

But today in America, you will not hear many sermons on hell, why that would upset the good deacons and we sure don't want to upset anybody today. So we preach nice little sermons that soothe the nerves and ease the minds while the people sitting in church have one foot in the aisle and the other in hell.

My message today, friends, is entitled Awake in Hell. My text is found in the book of Luke chapter 16. If you want to turn in your Bibles to it now, I will read verses 19 through 31. And as I read this passage to you, bear in mind that we live in a day of the unconverted church member who has never heard the true gospel of the Son of God, who has never been awakened to his lost condition, and who has never been convicted of his sins by the Holy Spirit and has never been savingly brought to Christ through a true work of regeneration.

The church in America today is the most gospel-hardened generation of hell-bound sinners this world has ever seen, and I submit to you today that if the subject of hell was preached month on end in our churches today, that a great many long-time church members would become alarmed to the fact that they are on their way there and their cry would be, What must I do to be saved?

The duty of a minister of the gospel is to warn men to flee from the wrath to come, not to entertain them, make them laugh, and harden them in their sins. So I warn you today to flee from the awful reality of hell and its burnings.

It is a terrible place of suffering and torment, a place where the worm dieth not, where there is outer darkness and flames and agony for all those shut up in there forever. The vast majority of the people sitting around you in church today are going there unless they repent, turn from their sins, seek mercy from God and submission to the Lord Jesus Christ through saving faith, as an alarm clock will suddenly awaken you out of your sleep.

I sound the alarm today to flee from this terrible prison called hell. I pray that the God of the Bible, the great God of all creation, the Almighty, will have mercy upon you and extend grace to you so you may see the false foundation which you rest upon and flee to the only refuge you can, which is Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

The Rich Man and Lazarus: Jesus' Warning About Hell

Listen to our passage today, taken from the Gospel of Luke, straight from the lips of Jesus Christ, and may the Spirit of God attend the reading of His holy word. Take note, friends, that in this passage the man who was socially prominent in life and who had great position and wealth in death is unnamed and unrecognized in hell, whereas the beggar in life who was poor, poor in spirit, is clearly named and honored in heaven.

Here now is the word of God. There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth the good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented.

And beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou would send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Hell as a Place of Immense Torment

Notice several aspects from this passage today. First, that hell is a place of immense torment. When a person dies in their sins, they awaken hell. And as they awaken hell, they retain all their physical senses.

They can still smell, look, think, speak, taste, feel. They can experience sight and sound. The cries of the damned all around them give them no rest day and night. The heat that engulfs them creates an unquenchable thirst.

The worm that dieth not gnaws at their flesh. The flames that flash around them singe their very skin. They shriek and cry out in agony and in pain. And no one can help them. No one can save them. No one even cares about them in their great alarm and terrible sufferings.

In hell, your worst nightmares come true, and there is no awaking from it. Hell is a place of horrors. Listen, friend. In hell, demons rub up against you, tear you, abuse you, and torment you. There is no police force to protect you from the serial killer who rubs up against you and breathes his filthy breath upon your face.

Hell is a pit of noise, confusion, tumult, chaos, and torment, and you are there trapped in there forever and ever and ever. And the worst thing about it is the very fact that you now realize that you deserve to be there, that God has justified in sending you there, and that you had ample opportunity to turn from your sins and turn to the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ, in repentance and faith, and you would not.

And now it's too late. Too late. The regret you feel is overwhelming. The pain you experience is overpowering. The hopelessness that engulfs you is a great weight which you can never get out from under.

Never, ever. Endless are your sufferings. Deep are your regrets as you gnash your teeth in anger and wail in remorse. And the saddest thing about you is the very fact that God will never hear you. He'll never hear your prayers again.

And there is no chance or opportunity for you to turn to Him and repent and believe upon His Son. Your day of grace is over, and your endless sufferings have commenced in this terrible region of no escape called hell.

And as Jesus put His arm around the thief and said, He's with me. The devil puts his filthy arms around you and shouts, He's with me. She's with me. Hell is a nightmare you never awaken from. Now secondly, my hearers, I want you to realize that in eternity, all the importance of this temporal world called planet Earth vanishes away.

Earthly Riches and Eternal Priorities

All its pomp and glory, all its riches and fame, all its skyscrapers and bank accounts and earthly awards are consumed away. The glitter and the attractiveness of this present world system vanishes in eternity.

What is held up by man as important in this world now is considered worthless in eternity. No one is strutting around with a Super Bowl ring on his finger. No one is walking around with an Oscar under their arm.

No one cares who won the Masters, who won the World Series. That is all wood, hay and stubble in the next world. All that matters is this, only one life. It will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Did you hear that friends? Only what is done for Christ will matter in eternity. All else is rubbish that is burned on the ash pile of pride and man's glory in his flesh. It won't matter in eternity what the size of your investment portfolio is or how many farms you own or how many trophies hang in your study for God's Word declares for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world and the world passes away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

I repeat, only one life which will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. The third aspect from our passage today is this, the unimportant Christian who is looked down upon by the world is given a place of prominence in eternity.

Lazarus, Comfort, and the Hope of the Believer

Jesus speaks of the beggar Lazarus being held in the bosom of Abraham. This denotes comfort, peace, security and rest. We are told in Hebrews there is a rest to the people of God. Notice in our text that when the beggar Lazarus dies Jesus says that he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.

When a saint dies there is a dispatch from heaven of angels to escort that saint safely into the harbor. It's as if God says from his throne go get my child and bring him to me and off the angels go on their mission.

There is a story about the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon as told by his aide and close friend Joseph Herold that as Spurgeon lay dying in a hotel room in France that Herold gazed out the window and saw beneath a clear sky a company of angels hovering in the distance as if they were waiting for someone.

He swore that he saw that vision as a reality until the day he died. Well, they didn't have long to wait for the great Spurgeon died shortly thereafter. I believe that friends. I believe that when a believer dies in the Lord he or she is carried by angels into the presence of the King.

And I also believe that when a person dies in their sins they are dragged down to hell by demons and shut up in there against their will locked in that prison of hell forever. Now notice the last aspect of our passage today which I want to bring before you and that is this.

Scripture's Sufficiency for Warning the Lost

Notice how the sinner suffering in hell asks that a witness will go to his loved ones in this case to his five brothers to warn them not to come there. The rich man says for I have five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment.

Those in hell worry that their unsaved loved ones will join them there. But listen to the words of Jesus who relates the words of Abraham in response to his request. They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.

And he said nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent. And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.

And I say to you today friends that this present generation has no appetite for Jesus. They could care less for your Savior or your God. When you witness to them they have blank faces, a blank look on their face.

Their ears are closed to what you have to say. The word of God is despised because of the hardness of their hearts, their unpenitence, and their unbelief. And unless the Spirit of God awakens them to their ruined and lost condition, unless the Spirit of God convicts them of their sins, and unless the Spirit of God converts them through saving faith, then they will die in their sins and be buried and awake in hell.

And God will be a just God to send them there. For man is a rebel. Man is an enemy of God. Man drinks iniquity like it's water and loves his sins. Man will not surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in a saving way.

Rather, he cries out, we will not have this man rule over us. And even if one rose from the dead to speak to them and warn them, they would not be persuaded to turn from their sins and seek God for mercy.

For until a man sees the wicked windings of his heart and his hopeless and ruined condition apart from Christ, he will go on in his sins until he dies in them. And then he will drop into hell, into a place of regret where the worm doth not and where he is surrounded by everlasting burnings.

A Call for Revival and Genuine Conversion

I fear America is under the great judgment of the withdrawn presence of God. A few today are getting saved. It is my prayer that the God of the Bible would be pleased once again to send His Spirit into the land and heal it where preaching will be once again aflame with the Holy Spirit where the law will again be thundered in the ears of the lost to awaken them to their great danger and where a poor sinner will once tug on my coat sleeve and say, oh, what must I do to be saved?

That's what I long for, friends. I long for God to be at work in the land again in a saving way. And I long for the church in America to cease and desist and stop making false converts with a diluted gospel and a ministry of entertainment.

Oh, that the great God will be pleased to have mercy upon this lost generation and pour His Spirit out upon the land once again. Come, Lord Jesus, come is the prayer of Thy servant. Amen.