Hell and the Hypocrite — E.A. Johnston

I don't like to start a solemn sermon with humor and I don't use humor in my messages as many of you know and in my opinion there have only been two preachers who have successfully used humor in their ministry Sam Jones and Vance Hafner because their humor was sanctified humor that God seemed to bless to his glory.

So the following story by Vance Hafner must be included in my message this evening friends because it fits my message like a glove. A country church was having a series of revival meetings with different guest speakers and this particular night a former evangelist was the speaker and he brought his donkey up on the platform with him and told the assembly that his donkey could count numbers.

And to prove it he addressed the donkey and said Leroy how many Commandments did Moses carry down the mountain. And the donkey lifted his right hoof and tapped the wooden floor ten times. Then the farmer asked the donkey Leroy how many disciples did Jesus have.

And the donkey lifted his right hoof and tapped the wooden floor 12 times. The farmer was about to ask the donkey another question but a smart aleck teenager yelled out hey Leroy how many hypocrites are in this church.

Just then the donkey went to a little dance. Now use that illustration because my message this evening is entitled hell the hypocrites long home. And I have several texts for you tonight friends you may want to jot them down.

The Scriptural Warning Against Hypocrisy

The first is Job 27 8 which states. For what is the hope of the hypocrite though we hath gained when God taketh away his soul. Also in Job 36 13 we see. But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath. And in Matthew's Gospel in chapter 23 which I call Jesus is right act against all hypocrites.

For in chapter 23 you will find Jesus calling the Pharisees and scribes hypocrites seven times. And he wraps up his tirade against them in verse 33 and shows them the long home of the hypocrite which is hell.

Ye serpents ye generation of vipers how can you escape the damnation of hell. Now I'm going to get real serious friends and I want you to know I preach this sermon to you and love that as some of you here are sitting upon the false foundation of an empty religious profession and the only hope of heaven you have is a false hope that is nothing more than a hole in the wall that God's Spirit will deal with you and awaken you and bring you under Holy Spirit conviction so you can get to Christ for salvation and pardon the sins.

If you've never been truly born again wouldn't you want to know it before it's too late. Wouldn't your friend I would. Wouldn't you like to get to Christ and truly be saved. The title again of my message is hell the hypocrites long home.

And for some of you this message will anger others of you will scoff. A couple of you may want to wring my neck but a few I pray will be broken down under the hammer of God's preached word and ground to powder in humility to walk the road to Calvary to the crucified Christ and come in repentance toward God and faith in his son Jesus Christ.

The Hypocrite's Natural Condition

First I want to describe to you the hypocrite his condition and his nature his false hope and his long home. The first aspect of the hypocrite is his condition. The Apostle Paul speaks of this condition of the hypocrite in 1st Corinthians 214.

But the natural man receive it not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. Try talking to a hypocrite about deep spiritual things and he will become uncomfortable and change the subject.

The hypocrite has a natural condition and a natural condition is a very sinful condition. Unconverted men are ungodly men. I was having lunch with the deacon of a big Baptist Church and he told me all about the filthiest cable shows he watched and how he loved going to Hooters and watching the waitresses and their skimpy outfits.

He was a married man a deacon in a church but a hypocrite nonetheless as he was still in a natural condition and that is a very sinful condition. There are two types of men in the world not rich and poor nor famous and unknown but saved and lost godly and ungodly.

All ungodly men are destitute of holiness because their natures are corrupted. They are servants of Satan and live in a way of rebellion against God even if they are the chairman of the deacons. The heart of a hypocrite is full of sin.

His eyes are full of lust. An elder of the church whom I knew could pray the most heavenly prayers in the sanctuary when called upon by the pastor but in his office at work the filthiest language spewed out of his mouth.

Some men carry themselves in a religious way and look good at church but their hearts are desperately wicked. A man in a natural condition has a heart full of evil. The natural man is enmity against God.

The Corruption of the Human Heart

So declares Romans 8 7. Hypocrites may carry well and fool many but they are enemies to the authority of God though they may have more restraints on them than others to do evil. Their condition betrays them for they have the seeds of all wickedness in them and their nature is so utterly corrupt no matter how they dress up on Sunday morning.

A serpent when numbed with cold weather is a serpent still a hog washed in his walla is still a swine. Their sins are not mortified because they've never been pardoned for sin because they've never been born again.

They have no disposition of holiness implanted within by God's Spirit. They are ungodly men ungodly women who can talk the talk at church socials but cannot walk with Almighty God because Amos 3 3 declares can to walk together except they be agreed.

They spew out anger rage when they don't get their way. They lust after flesh and covet after gain. That original sin that reigns in every natural man is the fountain of all their actions. A hypocrite has the disease a sin in his nature and like a leper he is overrun with leprosy a sin from head to foot.

All its faculties are corrupted. And although he holds a position of authority at church and he freely talks to God but is quite a stranger to him he may look good on the outside like the scribes and the Pharisees did but are rotten sepultures on the inside full of dead man's bones.

His life is full of sin and sin breaks out on him like a wildfire that burns in its lust and tell he is overcome and consumed. He lives secretly in the way of sensuality and in a way of profaneness. The hypocrite has a false hope of heaven with no solid foundation and he climbs to heaven on a rope of sand that will soon dissolve at death and fling him into hellfire which is his long home.

Religious Profession Without True Conversion

These men will speak much on morality and religion and even pray for revival. But they are natural men who live an ungodly life and serve their lusts. Their heart hearts are set upon the accumulation of wealth for selfish hoarding for their own and their hearts are set on carnal things.

Roman 8 5 describes them they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. They seldom pray for the unconverted. They never give sacrificially to the spread of the gospel. 10 is good enough for them while they keep 90 to spend on their lusts.

John 5 42 best describes them. They have not the love of God in them. They do not live for eternity but merely live for the pleasure of this world. Religion to the hypocrite is nothing more than an insurance policy against hell.

They don't mind having Jesus as their Savior so long as he is not their Lord. They want to sit on the throne of their life and rule there. And if you try to infringe on their rights they will become fighting mad though they speak of their love for Jesus and sometimes they will even hand you a tract and say you need Jesus too.

There is nothing but hypocrisy in all they do. They will confess their sins and cry tears but they have no real godly sorrow. They say they want to go all out for God but never do it. They pray earnestly for holiness but they do not sincerely desire it.

They are quick to point out the faults and others yet are blind to their own. They love their idols and enjoy their pig pens. But God will not take men to heaven who continue in a way of sin and a state of enmity to him.

Hell as the Hypocrite's Long Home

The hypocrite is not converted and will perish forever. He is ignorant to his great danger of damnation. He has rebellious spirit and is fearful to see his own heart. So he clothes himself beneath the robes of his own self-righteousness and is a great dear the spirit of the devil in him.

And therefore hell is the hypocrite's long home. It is tragic. They spend their lives with many who are on their way to heaven but they will make their bed in hell. You may enjoy the good things in this life which God bestowed upon you to draw you to him to see his goodness but you will not receive mercy from the Lord in that day.

Flattering yourself with a hope of heaven will only make hell more insufferable and tolerable to you. Your regrets in hell and the tears you shed there will never quench the fires of God's wrath. You will continue in your natural condition and die as a tree falls so shall it lay.

A hypocrite is not converted and therefore is not pardoned. The sentencing of the law will be carried out against you as you face your dying day and drop into the bottomless pit. The last words from Christ you will hear will be departure.

Repentance and Refuge in Christ

Ye cursed. Repent of your sins friend and turn to God. Become a seeker of God and a beggar for mercy. The son is hidden in the bosom of the father and for you to be saved you must receive a revealed Christ.

Get to Christ friend and get under his blood for forgiveness of sin and eternal life. Let us pray.