Is Hell Real

And the subject for our message is hell real. I believe what the Bible teaches about hell. In the 16th chapter of the gospel of Luke is recorded one of the saddest incidents in all of the Bible.

The Bible tells us about two men, one of them was a beggar, the other was a rich man, and they both died. And the Bible declares that the rich man lifted up his eyes in hell. Lifted up his eyes in hell.

Being in torment, he cried out, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me. And said to Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Is hell real? Is there really a hell? Well, if there is no hell, and many deny that there is, and if there is no hell, then I tell you, there is no heaven.

There is no God. There is no Jesus Christ. There is no Holy Spirit.

There is no devil. If there is no hell, then my dear friends, there is nothing to salvation. And we are nothing more than an animal.

And we die. That's all there is to it. But as sure as there is a heaven, and as sure as there is a God, and as sure as Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, and as sure as the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin, there is a hell.

The same Bible that tells us about heaven. The same Bible that tells us about God. The same Bible that tells us about the Lord Jesus Christ.

The same Bible that tells us about the devil, is the Bible that tells us about hell. So, if you say there is no hell, then you destroy, and you take away, and you blaspheme the name of God, because you're calling the Lord Jesus Christ a liar. He is the one that related this incident that we find in the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

It was the Lord Jesus Christ that said there were two men. Two men. One of them a rich man, one of them a beggar, and they both died.

And the rich man also lifted up his eyes in hell. In hell. So, Jesus, if there is no hell, was a liar when he said that.

And I know that you know that the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the truth. The word says he is the way, the truth. And every word that Jesus Christ uttered while he was here upon this earth, was the very word of God.

And when he says that there is a hell, all of the people who deny it, all the people who do not believe that there is one, I tell you, it doesn't change my mind at all. As long as the Bible says it, I'm going to believe it, and I'm going to preach it. And there is a hell.

And when I think of this and realize what the word of God declares about it, I say, Lord, help me to so preach it that every man that's lost and every woman that's on their way to this awful place of torment will believe what we are saying. Not because it's J. Harold Smith that's saying it, but because the word, the Bible, the Lord Jesus teaches it. And the word of God teaches that there is a place of torment, a place of hell called hell.

So we read in Isaiah chapter 14, verse nine, hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth. It hath raised up from their thrones on all the kings of the nations.

So what does it say? It says hell from beneath. That sort of tells me where it is. I have always believed.

And from my study of the word of God, I believe that hell is on the center of this earth. I believe that when we, and the Bible declares that hell have enlarged herself. There's so many people going to hell today until God has had to enlarge hell.

In the beginning, God did never create, and God did not create hell for human beings. He created hell for the devil and for his angels. And if you go to hell, you're going to go there as an uninvited guest.

I mean, you're going to go there because you have stepped over all of the love, all of the laws, all of the pleadings, all of the entreaties, all of the begging that the Holy Spirit and all the convicting of the Holy Spirit can give you. You're going to go to hell because God has done his best and you have rejected it all. So if I could get you to believe it, just like the Bible teaches it, there is no man, there is no woman, a boy or girl listening to me and looking into my face.

But what you would immediately cry out to God, Oh God, have mercy on me a sinner. And the only way that you'll ever be saved from hell is not by joining a church, not by being baptized, not by turning over a new leaf, not by living by the golden rule, not by joining some secret order, not by joining some civic club. I mean, the only way that you will ever escape hell is for the Jew, for the Gentile, for the good, for the bad, for the rich, for the poor.

The only way that you will ever, ever not escape hell is to come by the way of the cross through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible declares that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's son cleanseth us from all sin. No man can fully realize how horrible hell really is.

The pain, the thirst will be eternal. The Bible says God has never sent a soul to hell. God never has, and God never will send your soul to hell.

You decide yourself by rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ and by living in sin, open rebellion against God. And the Bible declares that God has not prepared it as I said a moment ago for you, but he's prepared it for the devil and the angels. Sin is one of the things you're going to find in hell.

You'll find it's sting. You'll find it's wage. You'll find it's desire and you'll find it's death.

All of this will be in hell. In Daniel chapter 12 in verse 2, the Bible says, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt. Will you one day wake up in hell? There has never been a man on the face of God's earth that intended to go to hell as soon as he arrived.

I talked to a man 99 years old and I begged him to give his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. The nurse had just told me this man is going to be dead perhaps within 24 hours. And preacher, he's almost a hundred years old and he's never made a profession of faith.

He's never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior. And a Catholic nun was the one that introduced me to him. And she stood there by the bedside as I tried to win that man to the Lord Jesus.

And he said, no, no, I'm not interested. I'm going to live a long time. I said, but sir, you are 99 years old and you're here in the intensive care of the St. Edwards hospital and you are going to die and you may die today.

He said, well, I'll be my business and not yours, young man. And I'm not interested in your God. Before I got back on the elevator and went out of the lobby of that, of that hospital, they were calling me to come back to that room.

And when I got up there, that old man had gone into eternity, into hell. And I never will forget the stare of those eyes as they were stared up at that ceiling of that room in that hospital, the awful look that was upon his face. And I can just imagine that was his first glimpse of that place of torment.

The first glimpse of hell. Let me tell you one of these days, you're going to be surprised how quick your life is going to end. One of these days, you're going to be surprised how awful and terrible hell is.

If I could recommend to a place to you where there is stinging scorpions. And if I can recommend a place to you where there are vicious animals, they would destroy your life and cause you to live a miserable life. Not a one of you, but what you would avoid that place.

When I tell you about a place where there is no water, when I tell you about a place where there is no comfort, when I tell you about a place where you will not find one holy man, where you'll not find one honorable man, but where you'll find horrible faces. If I could, and I've told you about a place where you will never have a moment of rest, where the worms will eat upon your body forever and ever. There isn't a one of you, not a one of you.

I tell you that wouldn't turn to Jesus. If you really believe that, but you actually do not believe what the Bible teaches about it. You do not believe what Jesus Christ himself said about hell.

He said, it's a place where the fire is not quenched. He said, it's a place where there is not one drop of water, where there is no mercy, where there is no love, where there are no kind people. Now you think about it for just a moment.

What about hell? It's sorrow. I cannot describe to you the sorrow of hell. Think about the crowds that are there.

All of the drunks that died without Jesus Christ are in hell. All the dope addicts that died without Jesus and from an overdose in hell. All the liars, all the thieves, all the mass murderers, all of those who shed human blood, all of them are in hell.

And when I think about you and how that you will not believe what I'm saying at this moment, but you will go on and face that awful crowd that's going to meet you when you get to hell. When I think of that, I am amazed at your stupidity. Really nobody ever told me, really nobody ever told me before I got saved how awful hell was.

I cannot remember ever hearing a preacher preach on the terrible torments of hell and the terrible, terrible sorrows that will be there. The Bible declares in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 41 and 42, the son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which are do iniquity and shall cast him into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Now that's the way the Lord Jesus Christ describes your exit from this earth. If you're going to hell, there'll be a time of wailing. There'll be a time of gnashing of teeth for every Christian who has ever for every Christian that you've ever laughed at and mocked and made fun of, you will suffer in hell for it.

For every bottle of beer, for every bottle of booze, for every drop of liquor that you've ever consumed, you'll regret it throughout all eternity. For every precious girl that you've ever robbed of her virtue, you'll think of it and you'll mourn and grieve and suffer for it forever and ever. Not only do we find sin in hell and suffering in hell, but you'll find all of your senses there.

All of your senses, you'll be able to speak as you have never spoken. You'll be able to scream as you have never screamed in all of your life. You'll be able to hear like you have never heard.

You'll be able to see like you have never seen. You'll be able to think like you have never thought. You'll be able to feel all of the agony, feel the pain such as you have never known.

The Bible tells us if we die as a saint of God, God's going to give us a new body like unto his glorious body in which there is no corruption. But I believe that every sinner that dies will get a new body, a body that will never be consumed by fire or brimstone, but one that will be more sensitive to the pain of brimstone and fire than the present body that you now live in. I wonder, how in the world can you choose such a place for eternity? How can you turn down Jesus Christ and reject him when he's offering himself, when he knew how horrible hell was, and it was so horrible that God was willing to give up his son, and his son was willing to give up heaven, give up his throne, give up his majesty, give up all of his glory, give up all of his worship, and come to this earth and die an awful death on the cross just in order to save you and to save me from a devil's hell.

When I think of that, I say, how can you reject it? Not only do you find sin and sorrow and all of our senses in hell, but you'll also find suffering such as you have never known. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 41, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angel. So this place called hell is a place of eternal fire, everlasting fire, everlasting brimstone, everlasting suffering, such suffering as you have never known.

Never for one second will your pain end. There will be no sedation. There will be nothing to relieve you when you get to hell.

But the worst thing in hell and the worst person in hell is the devil, Satan. So we find sin, we find sorrow, we find our senses, we find suffering, and last of all, we find Satan. Where is he? In his kingdom.

You remember that the devil brother was once the archangel of glory. He was at one time the minister of music in heaven. In him were all of the pipes of beauty and harmony.

And he was so powerful until he thought that he would be able to dethrone God and take over heaven. And the Bible says he rebelled against God. The first sin that, and the sin that sent the devil to hell was rebellion against God and p-r-i-d-e pride.

And so the Bible declares that the devil set up a conspiracy in heaven against God. And the word of God says he was able to control and deceive and caused to follow him a third of all of the angels. What a powerful being the devil is.

I want to tell you, there's not a one of you more powerful than the devil. There has never lived one single human being upon this earth. Not one human being.

Jesus was without sin, but every other person, the first man, Adam, sinned. The devil overcame him, defeated him. The greatest leader, military leader that ever lived was Moses.

And the devil defeated him. The wisest man that ever lived on this earth, for the exception of our Lord, was Solomon, King Solomon. And the devil deceived him.

The greatest King that ever sat on a throne actually on, in this earth was David, King David. And the devil deceived him and caused him to commit adultery and then led him into murder and then led him away from God. And my dear friends, when I stopped to think of how powerful the devil is, you will not be able to overcome him and you will not be able to find the victory until you find it at the foot of the cross.

There is nothing but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's son, that can cleanse you from your sin. And if you do not come to the cross, and if you do not come to the Lord Jesus Christ and repent, I mean truly repent of your sins. And when I mean repent, I mean turn away from them.

Repentance means turning away from those sins. You're going to go to hell when you die. I used to think that if you went to hell, there were no exits, but I was wrong.

You know, the Bible says in the 20th chapter of Revelation, that death and hell gave up the dead that were in them, and they stood before God, all of them, only to be cast into the lake of fire. So all of you that will go to hell and think that maybe after a thousand years you can get out, or maybe that some man can pray you out, or you can pay a certain fee and get out, that's a lie and a deception of the devil. And I want to tell you, if you die without Jesus Christ, you'll go to hell and stay there until the morning of the great white throne judgment of Revelation chapter 20.

Then death and hell shall give up the dead that are in them, but that's not going to be victory. It's going to be worse. It's going to be like getting out of the frying pan into the fire.

And the Bible declares that you shall then abide where the devil, where the false prophet, where the antichrist is, and you will abide in that lake of fire forever and ever and ever. Is that your choice? Really, is that what you want? Is that what you want for your children? Is that what you want for your neighbor? Is that what you want for your friend? Brother preacher, is that what you want for your church members? Surely not. But why is it that we never hear sermons anymore on hell? Why is it that we don't tell the people the truth of what Jesus declares in the word of God? I'm an old man.

I know I'll soon be in heaven, or the Lord's coming, one of the two. I was born June the 14th, 1910. So it doesn't take a good mathematician to tell you how old I am.

But I want to tell you something, folks. I'm going to spend the rest of my life, I'm going to spend every dollar that God can put into my possession, I'm going to spend it to try to keep people out of this awful place called H-E-L-L. And I'm going to reach out this hand and do my best to kick you by the hand and lead you to the cross, and to turn you away from your wicked ways to a saving knowledge of our wonderful Lord.

He stands with a bleeding wound in his hand. He stands with wounded feet. He stands with a nail pierced hand and foot.

He stands with a whip torn back. He stands with a thorn pierced brow. He stands looking into your face and saying, why not tonight? Why not come to me? I'll redeem you.

I'll forgive you. I'll cleanse you from every sin. And I'll let you walk away from this place right here in your room.

I'll let you walk away from that TV set right now, a member of the family of God, a child of the King. If I could, I'd make the decision for you. Perhaps your dad and mother that a Christian said make the decision for you, but they can't.

Perhaps your wonderful pastor would make a decision for you, but he can't make it. The only person that can make that decision is Y-O-U. And is it yes or no? Is it for him or against him? Will you receive him or reject him? I firmly believe with all of my heart and soul that no church can save you.

I firmly believe that no water can cleanse you. I firmly believe that no works can make you whole and holy in the sight of God. It's only the blood that we shed upon that cross that can cleanse you from your sin.

But I believe that if you'd call on him and ask him right this very moment, right there around your TV set, just close your eyes and say, Lord Jesus, I'm a wicked, ungodly sinner. I'm on my way to hell. And I need you, Lord.

I need you. This preacher has told me the truth about hell, and I need you so much. As we look here, we find that the worm will never die, and the pain will never cease, and the fire will never go out, and you will suffer torment forever and ever and ever if you miss Jesus.

If you miss heaven and turn away from God, please, I beg you in this last moment of this telecast, I beg you right there just to say, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. Would you let me pray for you? Would you? Our Father out there somewhere is a sinner. Maybe a man or a woman, a father, a mother, a brother, a sister.

Maybe a young man. Maybe a young woman. Maybe a boy, 12 or 13 years old.

Maybe a little girl, 10 years old. She don't want to go to hell. Lord, you don't want her to go to hell.

And I pray that right now you'll redeem her, forgive them, save them, cleanse them, wash them in your precious blood. And God, may we hear from them. May they write us and say, Preacher, when you preached on hell, I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and he did.

And thank you, Preacher. I'll never go to hell. I ask all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen.