Hell is No Joke — E.A. Johnston

Hell Is No Joke

When I was a little boy, our churches used to be houses of prayer, but now they are houses of entertainment. In the sanctuary, we used to bow in reverence to a holy God. Now we hold our stomachs in uproarious laughter.

We don't want to hear a pastor preach on the dangers of hell. We just want to be amused today. But let me tell you something, friends. Hell is no joke, and its torments are no laughing matter. And that's the title of my message this evening.

The Necessity of Warning About Judgment

Hell is no joke. This God-hating, Christ-rejecting society needs to be warned of a future judgment that awaits all mankind. And this generation of sin-loving church members needs to be warned of their great danger of dying in their sin.

And being cast into hell by a sin-hating God who must punish sin. If God let his harshest judgments fall on his only begotten son, who was a spotless lamb, how much more will the punishment be for law-breaking rebels?

There must be preachers who are faithful to the souls of man and who are willing to confront their audiences with the harsh realities of the word of God and all the rights and claims that the gospel of God has on a follower of Christ Jesus.

That every mother's son stands in imminent danger and a terrible judgment awaits them if they are not saved. This pleasure-mad generation that only seeks self-gratification needs to hear the undiluted gospel of the son of God.

Repentance and the Undiluted Gospel

The gospel declares that all men everywhere must repent or go to hell. And unless and until they repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in their utter helplessness, they will die in their sins and be cast into a burning place of torment.

Hell is no laughing matter, friends. Hell is no joke. And the false gospel that reigns in this day is a lie. For to tell a wicked sinner that all he has to do to be saved is just accept Jesus is not true.

Because the word of God plainly states that sinners must repent and turn from their wicked ways. Isaiah declares, 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.

False Assurance and the Fear of God

But folks today, mistake church membership for salvation. And this generation of proud and worldly church members doesn't need pardon for sin because they never saw themselves as sinners in the first place and need a pardon.

They just wanted a free ticket to heaven and an uncommitted lifestyle that tells them once saved, always saved, and you can go to heaven and still sin all you want to. And hell is just a joke to them.

They're so dead in sin and blind to their lost condition that they don't fear hell or its torments. They have no reality of hell nor any fear of God, but Jesus declared, but rather fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Christ as the Only Escape

Hell is no joke, friend. It's a prison for law-breaking rebels who sin. Every mother's son is a sinner and deserves hell. The only escape is to flee to the only refuge and remedy for sin in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the only way, the only escape, the only remedy, the only substitute for sin. He declares, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. But today's modern, watered-down gospel tells unsaved religious church members that they're going to heaven because they were told God loved them and Christ died for them, and all they had to do to receive full pardon for all their sins was to just make up their mind to accept Jesus.

Repentance, Faith, and Genuine Conversion

But apart from repentance and faith brought on by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, such false teaching only makes spurious conversions. God has never relaxed his opinion about sin, nor has he lowered the bar of holiness as his standard.

The unchanging justice of God may not be politically correct, but it will sentence you and send you to hell. Like I said, hell is no joke. Everlasting torments are no laughing matter, especially when it pertains to you personally.

Salvation Through the Cross of Christ

If you've never been born from above and washed in his blood, salvation is Christ. He suffered and died and rose again, and he sits at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.

Listen, friend, you must get to him if you want to be saved. Don't be the victim of a high-pressure appeal from an evangelist who just wants converts for bragging rights. Don't let a pastor tell you you are now saved just because you walked an aisle and repeated a prayer.

The Spirit's Work and Christ's Substitution

Only the Holy Spirit can tell you if you were saved, if you were born again. God dealt unsparingly with sin by the death of his son, who fulfilled the law by becoming sin and a curse for us. I know I am a sinner, and I need a substitute for sin, and so do you, friend, so do you.

That sin substitute is Christ Jesus. You must get under his blood for pardoning a sin. Hell is no joke and no laughing matter. Don't go to hell, friends, because once you shut up in that terrible prison, there is no escape.

Repentance Toward God and Faith in Christ

The only ones who escape hell have exercised repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Hell is no joke. Please believe me when I say this. There is not one soul in hell tonight who was laughing.

Let us pray.