Jesus Preached on Hell - Why Don'T We — E.A. Johnston

The Church’s Neglect of Hell

I believe we live in a day, friends, where iniquity grows at an alarming pace and poor sinners need to hear the true gospel, but we also live in a day where the church has grown cold on the doctrine of a hot hell.

Most preachers refuse to preach up hell and its fires and warn folks about dying in their sins and being damned for all eternity. But Jesus declared to his hearers, he that believeth not shall be damned.

Jesus had a great deal to say on the subject of hell, and that's what we will examine today, friends, this neglected doctrine of hell. I believe there are several reasons why pastors and evangelists have omitted the doctrine of hell from their messages today.

Repentance, Respectability, and Burden for Lost Souls

I believe the church has killed off the doctrine of hell because of the following reasons. Number one, we don't believe in the need for repentance as a condition to salvation. Number two, we don't want to offend anybody with our preaching because we want to grow our churches and be accepted by our hearers.

We'd rather make them laugh and entertain them rather than be honest with them and warn them about dying in their sins and dropping into hell. Number three, we don't have a burden for lost souls like generations who have preceded us.

Today, many have grown comfortable in our conformity with the world and hardened into our theology, and we don't want to expend any extra effort to reach the lost with the gospel or we'll give some money to a mission fund.

But most folks are unwilling to get on their knees and weep real tears and anguish over the lost in their community. It's like what that old prune of a minister told a young William Carey, sit down, young man.

When God is ready to save the heathen, he will do so without you and me. I can back this mentality up today by a lecture I received from a lady who listened to me preach and she upbraided me for preaching and praying for revival.

She told me that we are in an apostate age and God is ready to bring the curtain down and end it all and send everybody to hell except the few elect he's already saved. She told me I was wrong for begging God to send a revival and I was misguided and wasting my time.

Revival, Hard Shells, and the Call to the Highways

I know there are some hard shells out there who don't believe in revival or the God of revival. Some of those hard shells even gave George Whitfield a hard time in Scotland and tried to get Whitfield to preach only for them because they were the Lord's people.

Whitfield told them he couldn't do that. He had to go preach to the other Lord's people because he was called to go into the highways and hedges and compel all the laws to come in. So God sent a mighty revival along with Whitfield while God bypassed the hard shells and their congregations by withholding revival from them.

Now that lady gave me a long lecture and she certainly entitled to her opinion but not her nor a horde of demons from hell are going to keep me from praying and preaching for revival. I believe in the God of revival friends and I believe he will send a mighty awakening to us again but we must set our sails to catch those revival winds when they begin to blow.

Jesus’ Warnings About Hell

I want to give us a brief exhortation today on why we need to preach up the doctrine of hell to this generation of hell bound church members first and foremost because Jesus preached on hell and that's the title of my message today.

Jesus preached on hell and its fires why don't we? Listen friends Jesus didn't soft soak the gospel to make it more palatable to sinful man he called a spade a spade he called the Pharisees a breed of vipers he told them that their father was not God but the devil.

Jesus was honest with folks and warned them of their great danger of dying in their sins and being damned to hell. My Bible declares the soul that sinneth it shall die and die means to die a second death of eternal misery in a burning abode of unspeakable terrors in a region called hell.

Oh friends to be sent to hell is to be banished from God forever. Sit back and listen to what Jesus had to say about hell and its torments and I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity then said the king to the servants bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer darkness there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth and these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal and fear them not 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.

You serpents you generation of vipers how can ye escape the damnation of hell. Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.

The son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth and if the 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 where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. And in hell he lifted up his eyes of 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 said Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am tormented in this flame that he shall say also unto them on the left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

The Final Judgment and the Church’s Complacency

I will stop there. Listen friends if you want to see a terrifying scene go to the book of Revelation and read chapter 20 on the last judgment in verses 11 through 15. And if you can read that without a tear in your eye and a sob in your heart you need a personal revival.

And that's our trouble. Today we call ourselves a church even though the carpets in our sanctuary aren't wet with the stains of the tears of broken hearted believers on their faces crying out to God asking him to forgive the sins of this land and to bring the lost in.

No we are too complacent in both our theology and conformity. Why most pastors would be ashamed and embarrassed to fall on their faces in front of their congregation and weep real tears and anguished prayer.

But Jesus wasn't afraid to show his emotions. In my Bible that says he wept and he's weeping now friends over the sad condition of his church in this country today and around the globe. But we don't preach on hell and warn men and women and boys and girls of the great danger of going there.

The Easy-Belief Gospel and the Necessity of Repentance

Why won't we. I believe it's because we've swallowed the easy belief gospel of our modern day which does not preach that repentance is a necessary condition to salvation. A big seminary was mighty successful in propagating that false doctrine for the last 80 years.

And many seminary boys swallowed at hook line and sinker. And their ministries are sunk. And those who listen to them are sunk as well. Friends a sunken sin and in danger of dying in their sins. Because to preach a message that omits man's duty of repentance is to deny all that Jesus stood for and all the gospel stands for because Jesus declared except you repent you shall all likewise perish.

And perish means to be cast into a burning hell a place reserved for the damned. And the second reason why we don't preach on hell today I believe is that we don't want to offend anybody but with our preaching we want to be accepted by our hearers.

Ministerial Approval and Spiritual Complacency

We need their approval and we need their money to grow our church campus because that's where success lies in ministry today. It's growing a big campus at least that's what we've told ourselves. And the last reason why many absolutely refuse to preach on hell today is because we have grown complacent in our walk with God.

We have no real burden for the lost. Ours is a cold formality with half-hearted preaching and little burden in our praying. Oh that an angel who would come with a hot coal and touch our lips and heart afresh and fan our Christianity into a blazing burning fire apostolic reality where we are consumed with reaching the lost with the gospel of the Son of God to such a degree that we cry out night and day like praying hide of India give me souls or else I die.

But we've grown too complacent and comfortable for anything like that today. If we build a big church then that's enough. Never mind that we have filled it largely with the unconverted all that matters is our reputation.

The Cross, Lost Souls, and a Burning Gospel Witness

Listen dear friend listen dear pastor brother Jesus lost his reputation when he was nailed naked to a bloody cross as a spectacle for all to see. But we don't want to kneel at that cross and pray in agony over lost souls because we might get her suit pants dirty in the process.

So we preach nice little sermons that don't offend anybody. Well just about everybody is going to hell all around us. Heaven help us all I pray that God in his mercy will bring forth a young preacher boy who isn't yet conformed to the deadness of this hour.

And that God will touch his tongue with a hot coal from his altar and make him a burning light that will ignite others in his generation. Oh how we need a Whitfield in our day. How we need a moody in our day friends.

But these are the reasons why we need to preach on hell cuz folks are going there and they're going there every minute.