Ten Paths That Lead to Hell — E.A. Johnston

I was talking to a pastor recently, and I asked him how he got saved, and he told me, when I was five years old, I walked the aisle at church and gave my heart to Jesus. When he said that, I thought to myself, poor soul, that's all he has?

The Narrow Way and the Few Who Are Saved

My message this evening, friends, is on the difficulty of getting into heaven and the ease of going to hell. There is but one way to heaven. Jesus said, I am the way. And Jesus taught that there is much difficulty in the way of conversion, that there are few souls saved.

The way is narrow, Matthew 7, 14 declares. Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. I have been in church for many decades, and I have witnessed the sad spiritual declension in the pew and the apostasy in the pulpit.

And I can tell you this, friends, if you are saved, you are in a small minority. In fact, you are one of the few who are saved. Most everybody in church is lost. Now, you can fight me on that one, but I am right.

Folks have religion, but they don't have Christ. If they were allowed into heaven, they'd not be able to pick out Jesus in a crowd. They don't know him, and even worse, he doesn't know them. And the church membership won't amount to a hill of beans on that day.

He'll be nothing more than a manure pile. There are many difficulties in the way of conversion, and it requires much effort on our part. Christ makes the recommendation that men should labor after it.

In Luke 13, 24, Jesus stated, Strive to enter in at the straight gate. I repeat, friends, there are many difficulties in the way of salvation. Many people, the majority of the human race, travel on the wrong paths that lead only to hell.

One road leads to heaven, the narrow one. Multiple roads lead to hell. Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. That's what Jesus says, the many and the few.

Many individuals fail to realize their great danger of taking wrong paths, and that's the subject of my sermon this evening, friends. As I will discuss the ten roads that lead to hell, in John 14, 6, Jesus declares, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And I want to place great emphasis on the last half of that verse, friends. No man, no woman cometh unto the Father but by me. Jesus is the door of the sheep. Anyone who tries to climb up some other way is a thief and a robber.

Religion and Church Membership Without Christ

World religions are the wrong way, the wrong path. All those roads lead directly to hell, and I fear in churches in America today, we have a majority of people who have religion without Christ. They're on the church roll, but their name is absent in the Lamb's book of life, and whosoever is not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.

There are two whosoevers in the book of Revelation that send shivers down my spine. Whosoever will come, and whosoever is not found written. Listen to me, friends. There are not many converted in society today, and there are not many converted in our churches today.

Most folks are lost and on their way to hell. They're on the wrong path that leads them to the bottomless pit. The great danger of taking the wrong path has sent many tumbling into hell. Well, let's look at some of these wrong paths this evening.

The Path of Religion

Number one, the path of religion. When a person gets religion, they believe they've got heaven. Whether it's a Hindu, a Catholic, a Buddhist, a Jew, a Muslim, or a Baptist, the road of religion is the wrong road to heaven.

If all you have, friend, is an empty religious profession, you are on the broad path to hell. Number two, the path of church membership. Many in our churches today mistake church membership for salvation.

The pastors are at fault here, who tell their people All they have to do to be saved is to walk an aisle, repeat a prayer, and accept Jesus. Walking a church aisle won't save you, friend. Any more than walking in the mall will save you.

The Path of Good Works

Number three, the path of good works. Working your way to heaven will get you faster to hell. You can't stand in your own merits, friend, no matter how much good you have done in the church. The only way you'll get to heaven is if you stand in the merits of another, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Path of Self-Righteousness

Number four, the path of self-righteousness. Oh, friends, how many are on this path? A friend of mine years ago asked me to go visit his dine-in in the hospital and witness to her. She informed me that she was going to heaven because she was a good member of the Methodist church and she had never done anything bad in her life.

She was a good person, she told me. Listen to me, friend. Good people don't go to heaven. Only forgiven people get to go there, those who have received pardon for sins by being washed in the blood. Number five, the path of baptismal regeneration.

The Path of Baptismal Regeneration

If you are a member of a church that tells you you are saved when you get baptized, then run for the doors. You are surely on the path to hell by believing in baptismal regeneration. Number six, the path of pride.

Pride is a great hindrance to conversion. One must become, as a little child, to enter the kingdom of heaven. A prideful person will never surrender to all the rights and claims Christ has on a follower of His.

The Path of Covetousness

Number seven, the path of covetousness. Now, I'm going to make a statement that has never been popular, even though it's true. Some of the greediest men I have ever known have been deacons in the Baptist church.

Greed and covetousness will keep you on the path to hell, friend. Number eight, the path that claims repentance is not necessary to salvation. Many today, who stand in pulpits across this land, will invite you to come to Jesus, but they will neglect to warn you of your duty of repentance.

The Path That Denies the Necessity of Repentance

The only belief, modern gospel, will keep you on the wrong path, and it will damn you to hell, Jesus warned. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish, and God commands all men everywhere to repent.

The Path of Receiving Jesus as Savior Without Following Him as Lord

Number nine, the path of accepting Jesus as Savior without taking Him as Lord. If Jesus is not your Lord, friend, you are on a fast track to hell, even if you are the chairman of the deacons. And number ten, the path of decisionism.

The Path of Decisionism

And this is a very wide and broad path today. Where the modern gospel's been so watered down, it doesn't even have the power to save a flea. This is where you rest your salvation on believing a text. You believe John 3 .16 is true, and because you believe a text, you decide to become a Christian.

You make yourself a Christian. I fear many in our churches today believe that Christ died for sin without believing on the Christ who died for sin. As you can see, friends, there are many difficulties that line the way of conversion.

Many souls are walking a false path and resting upon a false foundation because they have a false faith and merely made a false profession and joined the church. They are deceived individuals who will scream the loudest when they die in their sins and open their eyes in hellfire.

Recognizing the Need for a Savior

Let me ask you, friend, have you ever been lost? Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Have you ever felt your need of a savior from sin? How can you apply the remedy for sin if you've never seen your need, if you've never seen yourself as a lost sinner who deserves hell?

Jesus said, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Have you ever been lost, friend? Have you ever seen yourself as a lost sinner?

Can you go back to a time in your life where you took your place at the foot of the cross as a lost sinner in need of a bloody savior? Are you born from above? And are you washed in the blood? Have you ever gotten to Christ and closed with Him and received pardon for sin and eternal life?

Coming to Christ in Repentance and Faith

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. But by me. But by me. Come to Christ, friend, and repent and believe on Him. The duty required is to come. The gospel call is an invitation to come to Christ and own Him as Savior and Lord.

We have looked at ten paths that lead to hell this evening. Let me ask you, friend, what path are you traveling on? Let us pray.