Surface Christianity Hell — E.A. Johnston

The Reality and Torment of Hell

I believe hell is real, and I believe hell is a terrible place of torment. I believe hell is a lot worse than we can imagine. I believe hell is a very crowded place, and that the majority of each generation since Adam is chained up in hell and smoking flames at this very hour.

I believe every atheist that shook his fist in the face of God is remorseful in hell, but it's too late for them. I believe every person that God's Spirit strived with, wooed and reproved, is very sorrowful in hell for rejecting God.

I believe all the billionaires whose money was their God would give all their wealth back now if they could, as they now regret the choices they made in life while they suffer in hell's agonies. I believe all the careless Hollywood celebrities that laughed in the face of God and mocked Him with their lives are sorry for their actions as hell is a place of sorrow and regret.

Jesus told us that hell is a place of sorrow and regret. Jesus said about hell, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Weeping speaks of deep sorrow, and gnashing of teeth signifies great regret.

False Assurance and Religious Deception

But I believe some of the most miserable souls in hell at this hour are the ones who thought they were on their way to heaven. They were good church members for years. They did what the minister told them to do in what they thought was salvation.

But they were misled by a false gospel and a blind God who deceived them. I can't name all the times I've sat in churches in my long life and heard absolute heresy from the pulpit. I'm talking about seminary-trained men, some in high standing within their denomination, but liars and frauds just the same.

To tell someone that all they have to do to be saved is to accept Jesus as a lie, to tell someone all they have to do to have eternal life is to believe that Jesus died for them and accept Him as their personal Savior is not even found in my Bible.

Church Membership Versus Salvation

I believe many pastors have broadened the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did. I believe there are many folks who have mistaken church membership for salvation. I believe there will be a multitude of surprised church members who will wake up in hell and hear Jesus say to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I believe hell is full of unsaved Baptists, unsaved Methodists, unsaved Presbyterians, and unsaved members of every denomination. They're crying out in sorrow and agony in hell at this very moment, but it's too late for them now.

A surface Christianity will surely send you to hell, no matter how religious you are. And that's the title of my message today, friends. A surface Christianity will surely send you to hell. There are many religiously lost seminary professors and pastors and deacons and elders who walked a chalk line but who never got to Christ for salvation.

This is serious business, friends. Eternity is no laughing matter. You better be sure you were saved while you were still in this world because once you were taken out of this world by death, then it's too late for you then.

A Life Accounted for Before Death

I've been reflecting on my life lately. I reckon because I'm closer to leaving this world than I am staying in it, I wish I could go back and change things in my life, but I can't. I wish I could rewrite 80 of my life, but it's too late now.

I've done hardly nothing for God in my generation, and my time is running out. I look at men like Whitefield and Moody and John Song, and I'm ashamed for my lack. You only have one life, and how you live it for Christ and the gospel is all that matters.

I wish I could have done more for God, but my best years are behind me. What breaks my heart the most is a church that lives carelessly in a day that is full of evil. I've known a lot of surface Christians in my time.

The Emptiness of Religious Activity

Their Christianity never went any deeper than a profession. I can assure you, friend, that a surface Christianity will surely send you to hell. God doesn't care how much you tied to your church, how many committees you served on, how many times you attended weekly worship and sang along to the hymns.

If you did not know Christ, it was all dead works. There will just be wood piled up to fuel the fire that will burn around you in the devil's hell. You listen to me, friend. This stuff that passes for salvation and Christianity in our modern church today is not even remotely close to the one found in my Bible.

The Narrow Gate, Repentance, and Regeneration

In Matthew chapter 7 and verses 13 and 14, Jesus said, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.

Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Now you can try and honeycoat that and lessen it, but it won't help you in hell. The gate Christ is speaking of here is the straight gate of repentance, and if you miss repentance, friend, then you will miss faith.

The narrow way Christ is speaking of here is regeneration, for no man can enter the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again. A man's duty of repentance and man's necessity of regeneration are the hinges that swing the gate open on some and shut it on others.

A Final Plea to Turn to Christ

I don't care if you're the popular president of your denomination. If you've never been born from above and washed in the blood, then your surface Christianity will surely send you to hell. Repent and turn to Christ while you still are in this world.

Before you are taken out of it, plead with your friends. Repent and turn to the Christ of salvation, the pearl of great price. Christ is the way of salvation. Let us pray.