Damnation of Ungodly Men As They Are Turned Into Hell — E.A. Johnston

The Danger of Self-Deceived Religion

This message, friends, is a very solemn one, and I bring it to you with great gravity. I fear there are many in our churches today who are best described by the following verse from Proverbs 30, 12. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

I believe that sums up many in our congregation today, including staff ministers. This generation does not know what a sound conversion is because they have swallowed a diluted gospel that has no power to save.

Many today are nothing more than textual decisionists. They made a decision to become a Christian based on a text. I even heard a Baptist pastor make the following comment to his congregation. He said, all you have to do to become a Christian is to believe John 3, 16 to be true, then you are saved.

That's what the old boy said. How can one come to Christ savingly unless they hear about God's demand for repentance and their utter necessity of a work of regeneration upon the heart through the new birth?

Repentance, Regeneration, and the New Birth

Jesus said it was necessary to repent and necessary to be born again, to enter the kingdom of heaven. You must get your sins washed in the blood, friends, and you must be born from above. But I fear there are many today who've joined the church and they've never been awakened to their lost condition, never convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit, and have not had a work of grace performed upon their heart through the supernatural act of regeneration, which is the new birth.

They are ungodly church members, yet in their sins, and still in their filthiness. Their hope of heaven is nothing more than a hole in the wall. Sinners must be shut up to God and God alone for their salvation.

But many today make themselves Christians. A few today understand the strictness of the law, for they've never had it thundered about their ears to break up their false hopes and show them their false estate and get them under conviction of sin.

Men must be shown the badness of their hearts, the strictness of the law, the terribleness of damnation, the necessity of repentance, the futility of their own self-righteousness, and the preciousness of Christ.

Instead of these doctrines, you will hear your typical evangelist only tell you how much God loves you and that Jesus died so you can go to heaven, and that all you have to do to be saved is just accept this Jesus as your personal savior.

That's the modern gospel in a nutshell. That's all you'll hear today, friends. And that's the main reason why we have so many churches on Sunday morning as unconverted church members. They are yet unchanged individuals and unconverted and live for themselves in this world.

The Damnation of Ungodly Men

And while they sit in the sanctuary with a pious look on their face and have one foot in the aisle, the other one is in hell. There's a coming day when they each will die and experience the damnation of ungodly men as they are turned into hell.

And that's the title of my message this evening, friends, the damnation of ungodly men as they are turned into hell. Now, that's not a entertaining message. I'm not gonna warm you up with a few stale jokes or a couple of funny stories because I did not come here to entertain you.

I came here to warn you of your great danger of dying in your sins and being cast into the damnation of hell and its fires. If you're sitting upon a false foundation of carnal security and resting on a good opinion of yourself, wouldn't you wanna know it?

Wouldn't you wanna find out now before it's too late and you were cast into hell and its fires? Isaiah 33, 14 declares, who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

Listen, friends, ungodly men will be at last turned into hell. I believe our main problem today in our predominantly unconverted churches is the very fact that you understand what a true convert is. A convert is a godly person.

An unconverted person is ungodly. That's what being a Christian is. If you're converted, your sins have been washed in the blood, you're born from above, and you will live for the glory of God in a life of holiness.

You will live as a godly person. But if you call yourself a Christian and still enjoy your sins and refuse to break away from them forever, then you are an ungodly person who is still unconverted, like our text from Proverbs declares, pure in their own eyes, and yet it's not washed from their filthiness.

False Foundations and Religious Works

Many today sit upon a false foundation and a long track record of service and a good opinion of themselves, but your service to God won't get you into heaven, friend. Your good opinion of yourself is just a filthy rag in his sight.

When it comes time for you to leave this world and enter another world, the fact that you were a church member won't help you. The fact that you were baptized won't help you either. The fact you gave your time and money to the church won't help you.

The fact you read your Bible won't help you much. The fact you said your prayers won't help you much either. It all boils down to how you live your life for God in this sin-cursed world. If you live your life unto yourself and sit and rule on the throne of your heart, if you love your sins and live as an ungodly person, then you will die and God will execute vengeance upon you, for God executes vengeance upon ungodly men.

A holy God will carry out the sentencing of the law in the damnation of ungodly men as they're turned into hell. I know of which I speak. I was an unconverted church member for years. I taught Sunday school for many years as a unconverted man.

I looked good on the outside, but inside I hugged my sins. I loved the world. I wanted to sit and rule on my heart and still have a hope of heaven. I made myself a Christian based on a pastor's man-centered invitation.

I walked an aisle. I repeated a prayer. I shed a little tear and I was told I was saved, but I was yet my sins without the robe of righteousness. I had to get my sins under the blood. I still needed to be born from above.

And many today in our churches have broadened the way to heaven by preaching a compromised gospel. Holiness or godliness is seldom mentioned anymore from our modern pulpits. It's not even considered necessary to live as a believer in this day, a sad spiritual declension in the church.

Original Sin and Divine Judgment

But all unconverted men are ungodly men who love their sins and refuse to part with them. But men enter this world under a curse with a poison in their blood because of Adam's sin. Every person enters this world with a rude nature bent towards sin.

Men are born children of wrath. And if they continue in their natural condition, they remain under the wrath of God because God will execute his vengeance upon ungodly men as they are turned into hell.

The damnation of the ungodly as they're turned into hell is a fact which cannot be ignored, friends. God must punish sin. You see, friends, there are only two kinds of people in this world, the godly and the ungodly.

If you're truly a saved individual, then you will live a godly life. Your life will be centered in God. You will live for his glory. You will live in obedience to God and under the rule of the lordship of Christ Jesus.

You will be under subjection to all the rights and claims that the gospel has on a believer's life. The apostle Paul speaks of how a converted individual should live and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.

We're not to live for this world, but to live above it. We're not to live unto ourselves, but unto God. And as we live each day, we should view ourselves as a living sacrifice given over entirely to God.

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. If you are a converted individual, then you will be a godly person.

If you are lost and in your sins, then you will be an ungodly person. It's as simple as that. That's the biblical standard of being a follower of Christ Jesus. Jesus declared, if you love me, keep my commandments.

You will live in obedience to the law of God and live under the rule of the lordship of Christ Jesus. In short, you will be a godly person who brings glory to God with your surrendered life. You will deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow a crucified savior and a crucified life.

That's the biblical standard for a believer. Listen, friend, you're either converted and a godly person, or you're yet unconverted and an ungodly person. Let me explain it along these terms. I knew a man in my Sunday school class who believed himself to be a Christian.

The False Convert and Divided Allegiance

The pastor told him he was a Christian because he had responded to a gospel invitation and had walked an aisle and repeated the sinner's prayer. He was baptized and joined the church. This man was married and had several children, but this man loved strip clubs.

He just loved going to strip clubs, and every Saturday night he would be in a strip club and then be in church on Sunday morning. The ministers on staff counseled him time and time again, telling him that now he was a Christian, he must live more for the Lord and not frequent strip clubs, for it was a poor testimony for a Christian.

The staff ministers believed this man was saved, even though he refused to give up his sex addiction. The modern church believes you can be saved and go to heaven by giving Jesus only a part of you. That's if he just has a part of you, you can still go to heaven.

Listen, friends, that's a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus must have all of you, every square inch of you. You must come to him in utter subjection to him and throw down your shotgun of rebellion at the feet of a sovereign.

You cannot maintain a point of rebellion in your life and still make it to heaven, friend. God will have no rebels in his holy kingdom, but there's plenty of rebels in hell. Your typical unconverted person will talk of God, but is quite unfamiliar with him.

He will even speak of his love for Jesus, but will not live for Jesus. He will talk much about how he is a Christian and how you need to become one too, but he will not be accepted by Christ because his life's in direct opposition to God as he refuses to be ruled by any other than himself and his own lustful passions.

Roman 8, 7 declares the natural mind is enmity against God. That means that a unconverted man is an enemy to the authority of God. He will cry out like those in the days of Christ. We will not have this man reign over us.

And then they crucify the Lord of glory through their unholy lives. They are ungodly persons and God will execute his vengeance upon the ungodly in a day of damnation of ungodly men as they are turned into hell for ungodly men are utterly destitute of holiness.

My Bible describes those who will be cast into a devil's hell. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Listen, friend, God will have no rebels in his holy kingdom. Conversion is a glorious change that takes place within a person whereby a new disposition for holiness is imparted to the new believer.

The heart of stone is made a heart of flesh through the supernatural act of regeneration by the spirit of God. You don't make yourself a Christian, friend. Only God can regenerate the heart. A person who has experienced a new birth will live their life unto their God in a life of godliness.

Holiness as Evidence of Conversion

A sin will be hated with a holy hatred. A sin will not be indulged and relished with a passionate love. A sin will be viewed as a dangerous viper whose bite is lethal. The haunts of sin will be avoided.

How can a true convert indulge himself and relish in Hollywood's hellish entertainment and not be tainted by the perversion of it, the nudity and graphic sex of it, the violence of it, and the God-mocking nature of it?

Ask yourself this question, friend. Can Jesus walk beside you throughout your day without him blushing? Can Jesus endorse what you read? Can he endorse what you watch for entertainment, what you spend your money on?

If you live like the world and indulge yourself in the same activities as the ungodly, then how can you believe yourself to be a godly person when your life's actions are ungodly? Don't fool yourself into believing that just because you're a church member and you've been baptized that you're on your way to heaven.

A swine that is washed is a swine still. Ye are yet unwashed from your filthiness. Outwardly, you love to show off your religion, but inwardly, you live in the ways of sensuality and self-indulgence.

And wallow like a swine in the mire, yet you can't wait to get to the next deacon's meeting. You love your money more than you love your God. Deep down, you're a covetous person, an ungodly person, and God will execute his vengeance upon the ungodly.

It is most ordinary for a man in a natural state to live an ungodly life that is centered around self and the pleasures of the flesh. An unconverted person may make a show of religion and speak well of the Bible and the things of God.

He may even witness for God and hand out tracts and serve in some capacity in his church, but deep down, he will not live in subjection to the lordship of Christ Jesus, nor have a desire to live under his rule.

For an ungodly person wants to sit on the throne of their life and rule there. They will hate holiness with a holy passion. They don't mind confessing their sins over and over again, but they have no godly sorrow and no willingness to part completely with their pet sins.

They will strive against sin and say they loathe it, but all the while cherish it and hug it close to their bosom. They will not wish to part with their darling sin, but yet they still have a hope of heaven because they maintain a good opinion of themselves and they can show you a long track record of service to God in their life.

They don't mind serving God, but they do not want God to rule them. There's still a great deal of the spirit of the devil in them. That's why they can be two persons during the week. They can be a Christian at church and in the company of Christians, but when alone or in their family, they will behave like a devil.

They are yet converted. They are ungodly. And unless they exercise repentance toward God and faith in Christ Jesus, they will face the damnation of the ungodly as they are turned into hell. John 5 42 declares their state.

Examining Yourselves Before Judgment

They have not the love of God in them. Listen, friends, God will not take to heaven those who continue in a state of enmity to him. You can be a decent man. You can be honest in your dealings with others.

You can be a good parent, a good employee, or a good employer. You can even be a philanthropist and give to various charitable institutions. You can be all of these and yet be an unconverted person for all unconverted men, or ungodly men.

If a man is not converted, they are not pardoned from their sins. And if they are not pardoned from their sins, they will be quite unwilling to part with their sins. Now I have a fight on my hands with the good deacons.

They'll accuse me of preaching holy living. Some of you will accuse me of being a false teacher because what I'm saying is foreign to you. But listen, dear friend, hell is a terrible place of misery and you don't want to go there if you're yet unsaved.

Wouldn't you want to know it now before you learned of your false hope of heaven? When you come to die and awake in hell, it'll be too late then, friend. Wouldn't you want to know now before it's too late?

The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 13, five, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves? How that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates.

A godly person has his sins under the blood and has repented of their sins and turned from them. Acts 3, 19 declares, repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Listen, friends, if you bought into the only believed gospel and you've never repented of your sins, you will surely be damned to hell. That's a promise from Christ Jesus who declared, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

And that means you, friend, even if you are a seminary professor, now don't misunderstand me. I'm not preaching up perfection in a sinless life. We are all sinners by nature. And once we're saved, we can still commit sin.

Look at the life of King David and see how that godly man fell into grievous sin which provoked and displeased God. A converted person can still provoke God through sin and experience the chastising hand of the love of a correcting father.

But that person will be sorry for his sin. His heart will be broken over that sin. He will want to give it entirely to God so not to trample the blood of Christ again. A converted person does not live in the kingdom of darkness and serve his lusts and live only for this world and its pleasures.

The Converted Life and Its Mission

A converted person will be a godly person because they are the sons of God. Acts 26, 18 states to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive their forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that are converted.

A godly person will want to share Christ and save souls and live for the advancement of the kingdom of God in his or her generation. They will live for eternity. Jesus will be precious to them. First Peter 2, 7 declares unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious.

Don't be fooled by today's modern evangelism, friend. Don't swallow a diluted gospel and think you're saved. Like I said, there's only two kinds of persons in the world, one on their way to heaven, the godly, and those on their way to hell, the ungodly.

The Narrow Way and the Gospel Invitation

Seek God, friend. Turn from your sins. This easy belief stuff they call the gospel today can't save a flea. Matthew 11, 12 states, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force.

Jesus said to strive to enter the straight gate. He said the way was narrow and few there be that find it. Listen, friend, the gospel is for those who have a need. You must feel your need, see your need of a remedy for sin before you can appropriate the cure.

The gospel's for the hungry, the weary, the thirsty. Let me ask you, are you hungry for God? Are you weary of your sins? Are you thirsty for Christ? Then come, listen to these promises from God in the gospel.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.

All that the father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Ye come, buy wine and milk without money and without price and the spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely.