Powerful Convicting Sermon - Hell Fire — Charles Lawson

Chapter number 5, verse number 17, if you'd like to stand with me this morning. The fifth chapter of Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount. The liberals love the Sermon on the Mount. You'll never hear a liberal preach what I'm about to preach to you from the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew chapter number 5, verse 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill.

And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother Rokkah shall be in danger of the counsel.

But whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Father, add your blessing to the reading of your word and give me unction to preach this now in Jesus' name, amen. You can be seated.

The last two words of verse 22 came from the lips of the blessed son of man, hell fire. And there are two words, not just one where it can be misunderstood as to say hell is the grave, but he said hell fire.

So in saying that he gave a descriptive term to what hell is about. There are those who like to point out the compassion of Jesus Christ and rightly so the shepherd carrying a lamb. There are those who base their ministry upon his miracles and talk much about the one who raised the dead and healed the sick and cleansed the leper and cast out demons and rightly so.

There are those who say much about the kingdom that Christ came to build and how he offered himself as a sacrifice for us and went to the cross and died that we could be saved and rightly so. But in this day and time it's not popular at all, 2008 as a matter of fact, it's not popular at all to take everything that Jesus Christ said and preach on it.

For the son of man is the one who said hell fire. If you could take hell from the Bible, which most churches have today, then you could accommodate people in a different way. You could make them comfortable for there would never be a fear of a future judgment.

But according to the New Testament there is no doubt that Jesus Christ of all people that ever lived on the face of this earth preached more on hell than anyone else. And he told us about hell, described it, laid it out in simple terms where it's unmistakable as to what kind of place it is.

Here in Matthew chapter number 5 he said that it is hell fire. Therefore the word fire is included in this place called hell. He spoke of it in the simple sense that you accept it for what I say, it is hell fire.

In plainer words, it does exist. The Bible makes declarations, definitive statements, declares things to be so. You can believe it or you can reject it. The Bible does not set about to prove anything.

It simply says in the beginning God. You can say there is no God until you turn blue in the face. That will not change the issue. One day we'll all stand before God. The scripture says God created the heavens and the earth.

I don't make any difference to me if you're a professor at some college or university in anthropology, archeology and what have you. It doesn't change the fact that God created the heavens and the earth.

God became man 2 ,000 years ago. He came into this world and told us things that we had never heard before. We know in the Old Testament that hell is a place. Bible said the nations that forget God shall be turned into hell.

We know that and we know it is mentioned time and time again throughout Old Testament scriptures. It even says that hell has enlarged itself. Apparently it is never full. But when the Lord Jesus Christ showed up 2 ,000 years ago, the lowly Galilee and the carpenter and all of that, my friend, He preached about hell.

And in Matthew 5 at the Sermon on the Mount, which is supposed to be the great liberal sermon, He brought in the doctrine of hell. And He said it is hell fire. So according to the scriptures, hell is a place that literally exists.

That's not a Baptist doctrine. That's not a Methodist doctrine. That's a doctrine of the Bible. It exists, friend. There's nothing you can do to change that this morning. Hell does exist. It is a place.

It is somewhere. And it awaits those that, my friend, leave this world unprepared to meet God. Hell exists. It is a place that was created, the Bible said, for the devil and his angels. That's what the scripture says.

And the Bible says that when it was made for the devil and his angels, it was made therefore as a place of punishment. Not a place to simply go to. It is designed for punishment. So the Bible says it is a place that is called hell fire.

If you're very smart today, have half intelligence, you ought to be doing some thinking about where you're going when you leave this world. There's one thing that is absolutely certain, and you ought to know this.

You shouldn't know it and come to face with it. Come to the facts and settle this. You are going to die. You will leave planet earth. I know you think that you're going to live forever. You'd like to put this out of your mind and not think of the fact that one day you'll draw your last breath.

Your heart will beat its last time. There will be no more life left in your body. Where is your soul going? Are you prepared? I know you prepared your house. I know you prepared your income. I know you prepared your marriage, your children.

You planned out your whole life. But you've made no plans whatsoever for where you're headed when you leave this world. Hell is a place. It is a place that existed before you were ever born. It is there.

It's going to be there. And there's nothing you can do to change that one bit whatsoever. It doesn't make any difference if the churches today have stopped preaching on hell, if the preachers don't preach on hell, if the seminaries and Bible colleges don't teach the young men about hell, if they extricate it from the Bible, it makes no difference whatsoever.

It is still a place that you must deal with one day. Somebody, my friend, died this morning and they went to hell. Somebody took their last breath this day, July the 20th, 2008. They drew their last breath and awakened in hell.

What a shock it must have been. There are those that deny that it exists, but that doesn't change it. One day you'll lift up your eyes and hell. It's descriptive talk in Luke chapter 16, when the rich man died and was buried and the Bible says in hell he lifted up his eyes.

It's almost as if it says he awakened in a place that was absolutely beyond his wildest imagination. He never for one time thought that such a place like that could exist. He lifted up his eyes in hell.

He became aware of his presence. He knew where he was and from that moment on there's not a thing he could do to change his circumstance and his situation. There is no salvation in hell. There's no Savior in hell.

There's no Bible in hell. There's no blood in hell. There's no altars in hell. There's no forgiveness in hell. Whatever goes to hell stays in hell. It's permanent. It's settled. It's settled. It's over with.

What you've done in this life is what determines where you go. When you die without God, you go to hell. Hell is a place therefore that awaits you at the end of your life. It's waiting. It's a place that my friend has plenty of patience.

It doesn't matter if you live 150 years. It won't bother hell one bit. It's waiting. It has much patience for it knows that every soul lost without God that departs from this world will enter into its mouth.

It will take its clutches as Joel said and wrap themselves around it and pull it down into the midst of hell itself. It gives it an identity, a personality almost like hell takes glee in the fact that those that die without God are entering into its presence.

That's why Jesus came 2 ,000 years ago. That's why he died at the cross at Calvary. He didn't die to make you rich. He didn't die because of who you are. He didn't die to create this hell hole you know about.

He died to keep you out of hell. That's why he went to the cross. That's why it's so horrible. That's why it took the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible said God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.

That's why Calvary was so horrendous because he would keep you out of hell. There's only one name on the face of this earth that can keep you out of hell. It's not Baptist. It's not Methodist. It's not Presbyterian.

It's not Catholic. It's not Jew. There's just one name that can keep you out of hell and it's the name of Jesus. Folks use that name day in and day out. They use the word hell day in and day out. They become desensitized to it.

It has no meaning anymore. It has no punch to it. It doesn't grab the soul and the spirit. And that my friend was born in hell itself. Satan created that. You become so familiar with the word that it's just part of the average language of people who walk to and fro on the street.

But hell is still existing. Nothing has stopped it. It burns to the lowest hell. That Bible says in Hebrews chapter number 12 and verse 29, our God is a consuming fire. There's holiness about God. If you could go into the presence of God unsaved, He would literally annihilate you.

You'd rather be in hell in a heartbeat than to come before a holy God. Thrice holy, holy, holy, holy. Dare walk into the presence of God without the blood covering your soul. You'd scream for hell. You'd beg for hell.

You'd cry for hell. And yet I firmly believe hell burns because of the holiness of God. That's what hell is about. It's about a place that you go to without God. Somebody said hell is separation from God.

Who told you that? Where's that in the Bible? Find it from Genesis through Revelation. Well, I heard the greatest evangelist say that. It doesn't make any difference what he said. What does the Bible say?

He'll be dead and gone and another generation will come on. Then another generation will come on. Then another generation will come on. What does the Bible say? We're judged by the book, my friend. What does the Bible say?

Well, preacher, I want to tell you the truth. I've never read it. That's the truth. Most Christians haven't read it. They've never read it through from Genesis to Revelation. The sad state is that in the church today, most people are as ignorant of the Bible as they can be.

That's why they can be tossed from one church to the next church. One doctrine to the next doctrine. It's because we are such a phlegm, phlegm, butch, because we don't know anything about God or His Word.

It's a sad commentary. But the Bible has not changed. Hell is real. I'm not going there. Jesus Christ said in Matthew chapter number 5, Hellfire. Oh, if I thought for a moment I was going to hell. I don't think I can sleep tonight.

If I thought for a moment that I may die. My body may cease today. My heart may beat its last. This may be my last day on planet earth. It may be your last day on planet earth. You may be totally, completely, physically healthy right now.

But something takes your life away. You could die before the sun goes down. Your body would be lying dead in the morgue down here somewhere. And they'd be having your funeral a couple of days from now.

Where will you be? Where will you be? Where will you be? Well, preachers don't believe all that. Oh, you don't, do you? Well, what do you base it on, dear friend? What do you base the fact that you don't believe in hell?

What do you base it on? Well, I just don't believe God's like that. What do you know about God? What God are you talking about? You ever bothered to read His Word? You ever bothered to read the Word of the God that you say you know about?

What did He say in His Word? He said, My spirit shall not always strive with man. He brought a flood upon this earth one time. Thousands of years ago. The layers upon planet earth proved that flood was universal.

From one end of the globe to the other, water covered this earth. Water was all over the planet. You can find it everywhere if you want to look. It's there. He destroyed it one time with water, never to do it again.

But next time, He's coming with fire. The Lord Jesus Christ said the elements are going to melt with fervent heat. Where's that at in the Bible? It's in the Bible, friend. Read the Bible. You'll find out that God's not too happy with what's going on around us.

We live in a generation that's literally brainwashed. I've never seen anything like it in my life. This generation will embrace anything. They'll believe anything, embrace anything. This is the most relativistic bunch that ever lived on the face of the earth.

And they marvel at how they're in your face with it. In your face constantly. And it's gotten to the point where everybody's desensitized. Nobody's convicted of anything anymore. In Chicago, Illinois, they've called out the National Guard.

Children are dying daily in Chicago, Illinois, on the streets. They're shooting them down, dead, by drug dealers and drive-by shootings and all the rest of that. And so it's gotten so bad that the governor of Illinois has called out the National Guard.

They're going to have to turn it into a police state city to keep kids from being shot to death. Murderers day in and day out. Murderers in this town right now would blow your brains out for enough money for fix-it crack cocaine.

It's never crossed their murdering mind that they're going to burn in hell. They've never thought the fact that they're going to burn one day in hell. We've gotten to the point now where it's just simply passe.

It doesn't matter anymore. There's no meaning to anything. Whatever you feel good about doing, do it. Here's the situation. I see it today and I know how, my goodness, Satan is so smart. Satan has brainwashed a whole nation.

He's brainwashed them to the point to where sin is no longer sin, death is no longer death, human life has no value. Boy, do they walk to the streets today. We've got them locked up in our jails right now, perpetrating some of the worst crimes in history of this nation.

Right here in Knoxville, Tennessee. The families have been going through hell now and we'll be going through hell. They keep postponing the dates of the trials time and time again. Some of the worst murdering that ever happened.

If those men had thought that one day they're going to die and drop off into hell and burn forever, it might have caused them to take note. And without Jesus Christ they will drop off into hell and they will burn forever.

Hell is full of murderers. One man was just recently sentenced to 40 years in Knoxville, Tennessee. 40 years for raping four women on Chapman Highway at knifepoint. Raping them and he's just 26 or 27 years old himself.

There's no fear among anybody today to take a woman and rape her. Put her at knifepoint and just rape her. He'll go to hell without Jesus Christ. You didn't hear about that in the news. You don't read in the papers because they don't scare you to death.

You live in an insane society. For there is no fear of God in their eyes. Nobody fears God anymore. Hell is not full. Hell is full of multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires. There are old men in this world in their 80s and their 90s that are so rich they could buy and sell Knoxville, Tennessee.

My friend, they're going to die and go to hell. Yes, they will. They'll die and they'll go to hell. There are politicians running this world right now that one day they'll step down from the kings and the queens and the presidents and the parliamentarians and they'll go to hell one day.

Hell is full of kings. Hell is full of queens. Some of the biggest and greatest that's ever lived among men are in hell right now. Hell knows no identity. It is no respecter of persons. The young and the old go to hell.

The rich and the poor go to hell. The black and the white and the red and the yellow go to hell. Hell knows no distinctions. Baptists go to hell. Methodists go to hell. Presbyterians go to hell. Catholics go to hell.

Episcopalians go to hell. Russians go to hell. Jews go to hell. Americans go to hell. Englishmen go to hell. Portuguese go to hell. Africans go to hell. Without Jesus Christ there is no way out of hell.

There is hell, preacher. Hell is a place at the end of your life. That's where it is. That's at the end of your life. Some say it's in the heart of the earth. Let me tell you this. Hell is a place for a soul to go to.

It doesn't know God. Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life. Can you imagine what the greatest religious leaders of this world, dying without Jesus Christ, where they go?

But now let's get home here this morning. I'm not preaching to them 10 ,000 miles from here. I didn't get up here and say, listen, America. Listen, Woodrow Drive. Some of you in here are going to hell.

You're going to hell. And here's the saddest thing about hell. When you get there it's too late. Nothing can be done for you. You're going to hell. And when you die, it's too late. The rich man said, let me go back.

Let me go back and warn my brethren. Oh, Abraham, let me go. This place of torment. I've got to warn them. He said, they've got Moses and the prophets. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, they hear not one that comes back from the dead.

He said, oh, Abraham. Would you just please take Lazarus and just send him here with a drop on his finger to drop it in my tongue. Oh, just a little drop. Oh, Lazarus. Just a drop. I'm tormented in these flames.

Hell is at the end of a Christ-rejecting life. Where's hell? It's waiting. It's been around a long time. Your little 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years is not even a breath to hell. It was there when your great, great, great, great grandfather and grandmother were alive.

And they were dying then and going to hell. I've often thought about this when I walk through old graveyards. I look at the old tombstones. We've got Revolutionary War soldiers buried around here. We've got soldiers from the war between the states.

We've got soldiers from the Spanish-American War. We've got a huge military cemetery over here. It's old gray. It's got huge military crosses everywhere. And you've got some of the finest in Knoxville, Tennessee that ever lived.

Governors are buried over there in old gray cemetery. You've got mausoleums in this town. You can walk by these mausoleums. And you know at the time they built them, late 1800s, early 1900s, it cost thousands of dollars.

These people had money. You can walk through a graveyard. All you've got to do is look around. And you'd be amazed at the history lessons you can learn just walking through a graveyard. And I've often said to myself, I wonder where he is.

I wonder where she is. I wonder where they are. I wonder where they are. I wonder where they are. Right over here is a lieutenant, just right over here. I used to run by his grave all the time. A lieutenant from World War I.

A mausoleum. Majors, generals, governors, mayors, doctors, lawyers, buried right here within 200 feet of where you sit. Right here, just a stone's throw. I can walk out that door right there. I can throw a rock to one of the biggest graveyards in this town.

Every one of them lived their life and died and went somewhere. And if the Lord doesn't come back soon, you'll live out your little short life. You'll die and you're going to go somewhere. Are you ready?

How do I stay out of hell, preacher? See, that's the good thing. I don't want to go to hell, preacher. That's good. Thought of it, that worries me, preacher. I don't want to go to hell. That's good. That's good.

That's real good. Out, preacher! One name. One name given among men whereby we must be saved. Only one name. Only one name. That's the name of Jesus. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life.

What does it mean to have Him, preacher? It means you've embraced Him. You believe on Him. He's in you! He's your Savior! Izzy, just recently a man got a few months in prison for killing a 17-year-old girl within 3 or 4 miles of where you're sitting right now.

17 years old. Killed her. He crossed over, slammed head-on into her, killed her. Didn't kill her on the spot. She went to the hospital and called her mother and was talking to her and said, I believe I'll be okay, Mom.

But she didn't know her liver had been cut in two. She's bleeding to death internally. Well, Caesar gave him a few months for killing that girl. How'd he do it? He didn't do it intentionally. I think he was dialing text messaging on his cell phone.

If Caesar really cared about your life, he wouldn't be hollering about seatbelts. He would immediately stop cell phone text messaging. There'd be no argument. No argument. I get so sick of the hypocrisy, I can't stand it.

It's garbage. But in any event, 17 years old now. She's a good Christian girl. She's with the Lord. She's just 17. 17. We got a whole lot of 17-year-olds in here. And 18 and 19. 20. 16, 15, 14, 13. 13-year-old got killed this last week.

Right here in this community, right here in this area. 13 years old, dead. One little boy got killed just a few days ago riding a bicycle. Dead. Dead. Children getting killed all the time. Dead. You're going somewhere.

Are you ready? Are you ready? Let me tell you where hell is. It'll be at the end of your life. If you don't know the Lord. It'll be waiting. Father, in Jesus' name, I preach what you gave me, Lord. You gave me this a long time ago.

And that's all I'm going to say. I preach the word. Now, Lord, use it for whatever purpose you intend to do with it this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.