In this sermon, the preacher tells the story of Harry Houdini, a famous escape artist, to illustrate a biblical truth. He describes how Houdini would perform daring escapes from a box submerged in water, captivating thousands of people. However, one day, Houdini failed to escape and was found dead in the box. The preacher then relates this story to a passage in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus speaks about the end of the world and the separation of the righteous and the wicked. He emphasizes the importance of being prepared for the final judgment and warns against living a life of sin.

Matthew chapter 13, let's stand together please, out of respect for God's Word tonight. The book of Matthew, chapter number 13. We have a lot we need to say tonight, and so we must get right into our subject at hand. Matthew chapter 13, look if you would please, maybe you'll have to flip a page to verse number 40. Matthew chapter number 13 and verse number 40. And although there's much we need to deal with tonight, I'll give you tonight the same promise that Elizabeth Taylor gave her sick husband. I'll not keep you very long. Matthew chapter number 13, please, and verse 40. Jesus is speaking, obviously, if you have a Red Letter edition Bible, it's in red. He says, "...as therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. He shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Verse 49, please. Matthew 13 and verse 49. "...so shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just. He shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Tonight I preach the subject, What's Everybody Screaming About? Thank you very much. You may be seated. Let's bow our heads in hearts and pray. Let's ask the Lord to bless our time together tonight. What's Everybody Screaming About? Now, Lord, tonight's subject at hand is not a subject that I enjoy as a preacher preaching on. Just as Brother Robertson said, that as a singer, he and his family do not enjoy singing such songs, but it's Bible truth. And so, Lord, tonight it must be preached. It must be taught, and it must be conveyed to the hearts of this congregation that's performing tonight. I pray for the one that is here, because, Lord, in a congregation this size, I have no doubt in my mind that there's one, maybe more here, who's never been saved by the grace of God. Father, I pray tonight that your Spirit would sweep over them in mighty, mighty conviction, and they would not be able to leave this building until they get saved by the grace of God. Then, dear God, for those of us who are saved, who know the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, Lord, that you would convict us if there's areas of our lives that would keep us from having a testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ, and would cause us to live a life that would keep sinners from being saved by the grace of God. So, tonight, I pray that you would convict. I pray that you would work. And, Lord, I know that the devil is going to do his dead-level best to distract us tonight. So, I claim the victory that we already have promised to us in the Word of God. I plead the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, your Word says they overcame him, that's the devil, by the blood of the Lamb. And so, tonight, I pray that you would help us to be conquerors and to overcome. I pray that you would help this congregation as they listen to the Bible. And I pray that you would help me, your servant, the priest, or as I preach the Bible, for just the next few moments. And we'll thank you, dear God, for everything that you say and do. For we ask it in faith, and we pray it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Let's suppose tonight that we were all to jump on a Brush Harbor Baptist Greyhound church bus. All right? Let's say that we had one just kind of warming up out there in the parking lot for us. And let's say that it was a real nice evening. And so, we all loaded up on the great big Brush Harbor Baptist Greyhound bus. And we got on that bus, and we were going to go 27 miles. Not a 37-mile trip. Not a 147-mile trip. But a near 27-mile little stretch of land. Now, I'll be honest with you. To the average driver, 27 miles would probably only take about 25 to 30 minutes. Now, for your past understanding, it would take about 5 minutes. But for the most of us who drive like normal human beings on the road and obey the speed laws, it would take most of us about 25 or 30 minutes, respectively, to drive 27 short little miles. And let's say, ladies and gentlemen, that in the most 27 short miles, that you and I were to see 247 big red road signs in 27 miles that said, warning, the bridge is out ahead. Warning, the bridge is out ahead. Now, I don't know about you, but I believe that if I were to be driving 27 miles, I think I would probably see at least 100 of the 247 signs. To be honest with you, more than likely, I would like to think that I'm an alert enough a driver that I would probably see about 200 of those signs. But I promise you, you're going to see some of them because the signs being repeated over and over and over and over again would be a drastic way to get your attention. For example, we base our ministry out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just outside of Nashville. Not too far from us, maybe 15, 20 miles. The Robertsons base their home and their ministry out of Beech Grove, Tennessee, one of those little poking plumb towns I was talking about the other night. But they live there. I live in Murfreesboro. We're about 15, 20 miles apart. And just past them, you drive maybe about an hour and 35, hour and 40 minutes, depending on how heavy your foot is. You're going to go to Chattanooga, Tennessee. And when you leave Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and you pass Beech Grove, and you pass Manchester, and you go over Montego Mountain, and you start going down into Chattanooga, in that little hour and a half, hour and 45-minute track, you are going to see sign after sign after sign after sign that says, See Rock City, See Ruby Falls. You've been there. See Rock City, See Ruby Falls. Every old red barn, See Rock City, See Ruby Falls. I mean, on the sides of trees, See Rock City, See Ruby Falls. Great big billboards, See Rock City, See Ruby Falls. And by the time you go from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, you have seen so many signs that say, See Rock City, See Ruby Falls. You could care less if you see either one of them because the signs have driven you crazy. Why do they put those signs there? Because of the repetitive nature, it is something that gets your attention, and so it says to your mind, Hey, I bet when we get to Chattanooga, Tennessee, we could see Rock City, and we could see Ruby Falls. So here we are on the Brush Harbor Baptist Greyhound Run, and we're driving down the road, 27 short miles. Only about, let's say, 30 minutes, one half of an hour, 27 miles, and yet there are 247 road signs that say, Warning, warning, warning, the bridge is out of hand. The reason those signs would be so repetitive is to get your attention, so you would wake up, so you would open your eyes, so you would turn the air conditioner on, get some coffee in your hand, and you would realize there is danger just a few miles down the road. You say, Now, Brother Locke, why don't you begin your message from Matthew chapter 13 tonight with such a foolish illustration? I'll tell you why. Did you know there are 66 books in your Bible? I thank God for every one of them. There is 39 in the Old, there is 27 in the New. You put them together and start counting words, you'll find out there's 791,328 words in your Old and New Testament Bible, and every one of them are straight from the very mouth of Almighty God. But if you were to take away the 39 books of the Old Testament and just have the 27 of the New, did you know if you put the 27 books of your New Testament Bible between your fingers, ladies and gentlemen, you will not have a very, very thick amount of paper. Matter of fact, the Old Testament is much, much larger than the New Testament, and so all you have is 27 little bitty short books of your New Testament. But did you know in those 27 books, there are 247 big red road signs that says, Warning, there is a plague that's called hate. Just the other day, I was driving down the road, and I was listening to Mr. Dobson and some of the people there and focused on the family. And don't get me wrong, they have some wonderful things. But there was a man on the radio and he was preaching about heaven. And I remember Mr. Dobson and the other guy kind of focused in there on the little discussion group after the message. And I'll never forget, Mr. Dobson said, You know what, that is such an overlooked message in the day and age in which we live. He said, It just seems like nobody preaches on heaven anymore. He said, It just seems like nobody ever talks about heaven. He said, It seems like all the songs in our hymn books have been taken away from the doctrine of heaven. And he said, I tell you, And he called the guy, Mike, and he said, I tell you, Mike, it just seems like heaven is an overlooked message in the day and age in which we live. Well, he's probably right, but I've got news for you and Mr. Dobson. I believe something that's just a little bit more overlooked than heaven is the doctrine of eternal hell. And there are very few people in our churches who actually hear a full-blown message on hell. It is the most overlooked and started-around issue in all of the Word of God. I want you to take your Bible tonight, let your fingers do the walking, to Luke chapter 16. Would you go there? It is the most doctrinal portion of Scripture in all of your Bible when it comes to the subject that we're dealing with tonight, the subject of hell. Luke chapter number 16, and when you get there, we're going to go to verse number 19. Luke chapter number 16, and we're going to begin in verse number 19. I'm going to give you four simple, undeniable, irrefutable points about hell tonight. Number one, as my title implies, what's everybody screaming about? I believe, number one, the people in hell, they are bothered by, they are grieved by, they are overwhelmed by, and number one, the people in hell are screaming over hell's reality. Over hell's reality. Just as real as the building in which we sit right this moment, so there is a place, according to the Word of God, both mentioned in the Old, but more so in the New Testament, a place that is actually, physically, and factually called hell. Somebody says, well, Brother Locke, I'll be real honest with you. I don't believe there's a hell, and I'll be real honest with you. It won't make it one degree cooler when you get there, because there is a hell. You can say that this building does not exist. You can say that the parking lot just outside the doors of this church does not exist. You can say that Virginia does not exist. But just you saying that it does not exist does not make it so, and you can try to miss a wave and fable away hell, but it is a reality that is in the Word of God. And in Luke chapter 16, Jesus is giving an actual historical account. Now, you hear me? Look me straight up in the face. This is not a made-up story. This is not a parable that Jesus is giving. Every time Jesus gave parables, He never used actual names, He never used actual places, and He never used actual references to real things, if you will, to actual objects which could be touched or which could be talked to or which could be seen. He always was very, very vague when He gave parables, but in Luke 16, the last thing Jesus was was vague. As a matter of fact, He was very meticulous, and He was very, very specific. Look what your Bible says, please. Luke chapter 16 and verse number 19. The Bible says, Notice the word, rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. Now, the color purple, if you study the book of Leviticus and the book of Numbers, you will find out that the color purple in your Bible is a color or a symbolization of royalty. This was not your average Joe Blow, run-of-the-mill type of a fella. Maybe he was a politician. Maybe he was some type of a theologian. I do not know what he was, but I do know he was a highfalutin man in society because the Bible makes the little point that he wore purple robes or purple garments. But the Bible also tells us that he was a very rich and influential man. It says that he fared sumptuously every day. Now, that big fancy New Testament word, sumptuously, basically means, if he wanted a Big Mac, he ate a Big Mac. If he wanted a hot dog, he ate a hot dog. If he wanted a 20-ounce T-bone steak, he had a 20-ounce T-bone steak. Whatever this man wanted, whenever he wanted, however he wanted, it's what he received because he was a rich man, clothed in purple, and fared sumptuously, not once a month, once a week, but every day. But please look at verse number 20 if you would. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his, that's the rich man's, gate full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dog came and licked his sores, verse 22, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, please notice verse 23, and in hell, notice that phrase one more time, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torment, to see Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Here the Lord Jesus begins to give the historical account about two men. One was a very, very rich man who was not saved by the grace of God, and one was a very, very poor beggar man who was saved by the grace of God. One went to heaven and one went to hell. Now let me fix an old-fashioned Baptist misnomer that's been around for many, many years that I believe needs to be fixed. The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich, and the poor man did not go to heaven because he was poor. The poor man went to heaven because he was saved by the grace of God, and the rich man went to hell because he was lost in his sin and never repented and turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it had nothing to do with their social status, but it had everything to do with their spiritual status in life. And so here's one of them who is eating well every day. I mean, he's got a limousine. He's got an indoor swimming pool. I mean, he's got everything handed to him on a silver platter. I mean, he's got servants. I mean, he's got people that bring him his silk pajamas and all that kind of stuff. And I mean, here's a guy who is flat loaded. He's got money in the bank. He's got money in several banks, probably, but just outside the gate. Here's a little old beggar man by the name of Lazarus. The Bible says that the only satisfaction that he had, basically, was when the dogs would come by and lick those oozing, pussing sores from his skin as he had these protruding boils that were coming forth. And all he wanted was just a few crumbs, but even the rich man had no time for that little skid row bum who was just outside the street, just outside his gate. And so one day we find out that the beggar died, and he was escorted by the angels of God into Abraham's bosom. And just a little while longer we find out that the rich man died, and there was no escort into heaven. Rather, the Bible says in verse 23, And in hell he lifts up his eyes, being informed. Now, we're living in a day when people say hell's just separation from God. Now, please understand, one of the most terrible, awful things about hell is the fact that in hell you are separated from God because of your sins. Isaiah chapter 59, verses 1 and 2, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Neither is His ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God that He will not hear. And so to be separated from God, no doubt, will be horrendous and will be horrible. But they try to nullify the fact that flames are in hell and that darkness is in hell and that there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And you get these people who say hell is only a mental state. It is only a place where people go to be separated from God, but there's no such thing as flames in hell. And we've got that all over America, but I'd like to remind you on almost every occasion, not every, but probably 95% of the time, when Jesus preached, when He taught, when He mentioned or when He spoke about the doctrine of the reality of hell, He always mentioned there were physical flames. Five years ago, there is an international evangelist who travels the world. He's very well known. And five years ago, he was on national television and somebody asked him, they said, Dr. So-and-so, what is your stand on flames in hell? And he said, I believe whenever the Bible is depicting flames in hell, it is merely a reference to speak of the awfulness that it will be to be separated from God. And here's what he said, I didn't say it. He said, but to say that there are literal flames in hell, we do not have enough Bible evidence to prove something like that. Now, I'm not giving you his name, I'll give you his initials. They're Billy Graham. But the truth of the matter is this, if you study your Bible from Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21, you're going to find out, ladies and gentlemen, that there is a real place called hell, it is a reality just as this building is a reality, and there are flames in the very midst of this place called hell. And this man in Luke 16 wasn't having a party hardy time. The Bible says three times he was in torment. Now, look in your Bibles at verse 24, would you? Luke chapter 16 and verse 24, And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. And sin Lazarus said he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. Did you notice that little phrase, Father Abraham? Here's a man, ladies and gentlemen, who was religious. Here's a man who had, if you will, the terms of endearment of a Bible. He didn't say, Mr. Abraham. He didn't say, Hey there, Abraham. He said, Father Abraham, a religious terminology which was used all throughout the New Testament for religious people. But you'll notice, dear neighbor, his religion did not keep him out of hell. Now, drunkenness is a horrible sin in the day and age in which we live. I think that any preacher who will not stand up and preach against liquor and preach against booze and preach against all that goes with it, I believe he ought to turn in his ordination certificate because he's a liberal, he's a modernist, and he's taking money under false pretense, and he's a hireling. I believe all preachers ought to preach against liquor. I mean beer, I mean booze, I mean every bit of it. I'm against all of it. But I'm going to tell you something. Drunkenness and booze and liquor and drunkenness is not what's sending more people to hell in America. You know that? Divorce is not sending that many people to hell in America. Immorality and adultery and fornication and the rest of that mess is not what is sending most people to hell in America and around the world. There are more people that go to hell in the name of religion. Because people have the idea, Well, Brother Locke, if I'm a Baptist, I'll go to heaven. No, no. I'm not going to heaven because I'm a Baptist. I just figure since I'm going to heaven, I might as well go first class. But the truth of the matter is this. I know a lot of Baptists who've never been saved by the grace of God. You say, Well, Brother Locke, I'll have you to know I'm a Presbyterian. I'm an Episcopalian. I'm a Catholic. I'm a Pentecostal. I'm a Charismatic. I'm a Church of God. And I'm among many other things. But I didn't ask you tonight, are you religious? Because religion will not get you to the kingdom of God, only a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is a man who said, Father Abraham. He had religious terminology, but the problem was he had never been saved by the grace of God. And you can go to church all you want to. You can repeat all the little prayers you want to. You can walk an hour, shake hands, sign a card. You can even give. You can get in the baptismal booth, but that does not ensure that you're going to the kingdom of God. There must be a time in your life when you realize you're a hell-deserving, rotten sinner. You have broken God's law, and the Holy Spirit of God puts you under old-fashioned conviction. And Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 1 says that He quickens you, He shows you your need, and then and only then you are willing to turn from your sin, and by faith in faith alone turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. And if that has never happened to you, you may be religious, but you've never been saved according to what the Bible says. Here is a man who was religious, but he was lost. But let's keep reading, if we shall, in verse number 25. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things. Likewise, Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Isn't it an interesting thing? Here was a rich man who died and became a beggar. And here was a beggar who died and became a rich man. And he had everything that money could buy, but he didn't have the one thing. And what shall a profitable man if he gain the whole world and lose his own stomach? Then we pick up our reading in verse number 26. Abraham said, And beside all this between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. There's the idea of separation. There was a great valley that was there. And he said, I can't come to you. Son, you can't come to me, verse 27. Then he said, notice, please, the discourse. Then he said, I pray thee, therefore, Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house. Here's the reason. For I have five brethren, or brothers, that he may testify, priest, exhort. He may testify unto them, lest they also come to this place of torment. You see, nobody in hell tonight wants any company, that's for sure. It goes on in verse 29. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophet. Let them hear them. And he said, Nay, no. He's arguing. Nay, Father Abraham. But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophet, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose. He said, Son, you're not going to get out of a mess that you're in. He said, You didn't receive the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter how religious, no matter how good-looking on the outside you may have been and how much money. You didn't receive the Lord Jesus, and so now there's no help for you whatsoever. I can't come to you. You can't come to me. And nobody's going to dip their finger in water and cool your tongue. You will be tormented for all of eternity in the flames. And eventually hell will be cast into the lake of fire, Revelation chapter 20 tells us. But then he looks at him and says, Okay, there's no help for me, but there is some hope for my brothers. He said, I never had a burden for those boys when I lived on earth. Could have cared less for them. We never went to church, never cared anything much about the Bible. We tried to be a little bit religious. That was just kind of the outward facade. That was just kind of the thing that went with life. And we wanted to do our own things, drive our own cars, and we enjoyed the fast-paced lifestyle of wickedness, wine, and women, and the rest of it that goes with it. And my brothers saw a sorry, sorry character in me. And since I can't go back and tell them, why don't you let Lazarus come back from the dead? And if he has the smoking smell of death upon him, he comes back with the flaming eyes of fire, and he'll come back and open up the Word of God and preach to my brothers and beat on their doors and beg them to get saved and beg their boys and girls and beg their wives to get saved and beg their families to get saved. Why don't you send somebody back and let my brothers know the reality of this awful place in which I find myself. And Abraham said something to him that is very, very interesting. He said, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. So he argued with them. No! Nay, Father Abraham. But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. It's interesting to me. People in hell believe in repentance, and we got Baptist preachers around America that don't. Here's a man who didn't want to repent in life, but I promise you, he wanted to repent the moment he lifted up his eyes in hell. And repentance is a part of the Gospel. Jesus did not say, believe and repent. He said, repent and believe the Gospel, because you won't believe the Gospel until you repent and change your mind about that mess you've been believing all of your life, until you're willing to turn from your sin, until you're willing to learn, turn from all that religion and all that stuff that's been pumped into you all of your life. You can never believe the Gospel because you must be enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God that you need something. And when you make that change, when you change your mind, then it's when you believe the Gospel. And that's what this man wanted to do. He was willing to turn from his sin. He was willing to turn from his religion. He was willing to turn from what he had learned and had pumped into all of his life, but now there was no hope. And so he argued with Abraham and said, I didn't repent, but my brothers still have time. Let somebody, let some wild-eyed evangelist go back and tell us there's a real place called hell. And he told them again, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. I'm going to tell you something. Those are weighted verses, very, very heavy verses in your Bible. Do you know what Moses and the prophets was when Abraham was speaking in Luke 16? It was the equivalent to all of the Word of God that they had. You see, there was no completed canon when you have the event of Luke chapter number 16. They did not have the ink pen of inspiration running out in Revelation 22. They did not have that, ladies and gentlemen. All they had during the historical time of Luke chapter 16 was Moses and the prophets, and that was the equivalent to the Word of God. And Abraham looked at him and said, if they won't do what the Word of God, they're not going to be persuaded though one rose. And did you know, ladies and gentlemen, we are living in the very same days. We are living in the days when people want to see the mighty miracles, but they don't want to listen to what the Word of God has to say. Now, last night I did my little bit and preached on Benny Hinn, so I'm not preaching on him tonight, but you know what I'm talking about when you watch these fellows on television. Everybody wants to see the raising of the dead. Everybody wants to see the blinded eyes mended. Everybody wants to see the ears that are unstopped because they've been deaf all of their lives. Now, you hear me. I do not discount healing one bit. I've seen people healed from cancer. I've seen God raise people off the deathbed of affliction. I believe God is the great physician, and I believe He can heal, but I don't believe in divine healing. I believe in divine healing, just as sure as this Bible's black tonight, but I don't believe any man's got a monopoly on God. I don't think any man's got some special touch in his hand or in his handkerchief or in his spit or whatever it may be where he can raise people from the dead. God does not work that way in the day and age in which we live. There is one way that sinners are brought under conviction, and there is one thing that shows people how to be saved, Romans 10, 17, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And if they will not hear what God's word has to say, then they'll not be saved. You see, Jesus said in John 14 and verse number 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. And if a man cannot place simple faith in the word of God, I promise you he's not going to place any faith in some miracle of some divine healing. Now, here's what bothers me about the day and age in which we live. You go to the obvious, you know, the normal Christian bookstore, you know, down here where they call this place, you know, they got Lifeways now, you know, they got this little place over here, this shopping mall, and it's real hard, I'll be honest with you, it's real hard to find real good, solid, biblical Christian books and bookstores in the day and age in which we live. I mean, they sell just about anything you can imagine, especially that are fancy music. But nonetheless, you go in the bookstores, and right now, I guarantee you, right now, tomorrow, you go over there right now, there'll be six books on the shelf about the Bible code. I got books out about it. I got movies out about it. Here's what I say, well, you know, in certain parts of the Bible, if you pop all this stuff into a computer, it kind of spits out all these prophecies, and, you know, if you kind of read it from here to here, you know, you take 37 verses, you know, take about four words out of each one, and kind of lump it all together, you'll see that it was prophesied that Princess Diana was going to die in a tunnel. And, you know, you'll find out that it's prophesied that, you know, Bush is going to be the president which he is. And it's prophesied that Bill Clinton was going to be a fornicator, which he was. And it's prophesied that this was going to happen. And they come up with all these spooky, kooky, just ridiculous things, and they call it the Bible code. Now, here's what bothers me about that. If you believe in the Bible code, God bless you, have at yourself. But I'm going to tell you something. What bothers me about people that write books on the Bible code is they believe Bible code, but they won't believe the basic words of the Bible themselves. They've got to come up with some formality. They've got to come up with something extra. But they've got to have something in there somehow that makes it somehow ring true. I'm going to tell you something. I don't need any Bible codes, buddy. I've got something right here that is a code within itself. There are things in this book I don't understand. And I don't care if Princess Diana is mentioned in here. I don't care if Osama bin Laden and the rest of that crowd is mentioned in here. I know somebody that's mentioned in here. It's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm not looking for a bunch of codes. And I'm not looking for a bunch of ins and outs and a bunch of backwards and forwards and a bunch of diagonal stuff and trying to put a bunch of puzzles together. I'm telling you, if you will not do what the Word of God says, you're not going to place faith in a bunch of other stuff like that. And Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets. They have the Word of God. And if they won't listen to what God's Word says, you're not going to be able to help them with any of your miracles, though one even rose from the dead. And by the way, one did rise from the dead and his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And they still won't listen to what he has to say. So if you don't get it from the Bible, you're not going to get it at all. And so number one, the people in hell are grieved, bothered and screaming, if you will, over hell's reality. Please write this down, number two, put it in your noggin. Secondly, I believe they're screaming over hell's locality. Here's the question, according to, you know, Bible historians, Bible scholars, where really is this place called hell? Now, I'm going to be honest with you about something tonight. Follow me, okay? Have a little Sunday school lesson here. I do not know, nor does your pastor, nor does any other preacher that may be in here tonight, nor does any theologian, any Bible scholar, I don't care who they are, I don't care how many PhDs, how many doctorates, how many whatever they have, all right? There's not a man on the face of God's earth that can tell you, according to the Bible, where the lake of fire is. I don't know. You know, some scientists and Bible scholars say, well, it's a black hole. It may be. They say, well, it's way out in outer space. I heard one preacher not long ago, evangelist friend of mine, he preached and said it's going to be the sun. I don't know what it's going to be. I mean, honestly, I don't care what it's going to be because I'm not going to be there, thank God for that. But here's the truth of the matter. I don't know where the lake of fire is going to be. But according to your Bible, hell and the lake of fire are two separate entities. They are two separate places. They are not one and the same. So how do you know that? Because the Bible says death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. So I don't know where the lake of fire is and I'm not going to split a bunch of theological hairs and try to figure it out. It doesn't matter to me, honestly. But I do know, according to this Bible, right this very moment, where hell, as we know it is, it is beneath the very floor in which we have this revival meeting tonight. It is slapdash. Did you know if you study references in the Old Testament of your Bible, you'll find verses like Proverbs chapter 3 where the Bible says the way of life is above to the wise that he may depart from hell's release. Numbers chapter number 16, we have a preacher man by the name of Moses. Moses is one of my favorite characters in all the Bible. I mean, you know, I can really relate to him. You know, me and him must get a lot in common. You know, he was kind of an uneducated, hillbilly, redneck type of a preacher. Man, I like guys like that. Amen. And so here he was, you know, on the backside of the desert for 40 years doing this for 40 years and running around with a bunch of rebels for 40 years. There was a man in number 16 by the name of Korah. Now, Korah had a pretty respected job. I mean, if there was any man in the Bible who should have been excited about his job description, it should have been Korah and the Koaphites. Man, they carried this stuff around for the tabernacle. I mean, they put up the holy of holies, friends. I mean, they placed everything right in its proper order. And I mean, they hung the sheets and they put the raptures up and they put the labor and all that kind of stuff and the table of showbread and the candlesticks. I mean, these guys had a great job description but Korah, that wasn't enough for him. He was a little bit insecure with his job and so one day he walks over to Moses and he says, you know what, pal? I think you just got a little bit too big for your britches. And I think what you need is not an assistant pastor. I think you need to step down and be Pastor Emeritus and let me pastor this crowd for a while. And Moses said, I'll tell you what, if that was God's will, I'd give you every one of these rebels right on the spot but I don't believe it's God's will. He said, I'll tell you what, how about tomorrow morning after breakfast we have ourselves a little showdown? He said, we'll show up and we'll sing. He said, we'll see what God will do. And he said, if God doesn't say anything, if God utters not a word, he said, I'll give you this gift. You can have Aaron for your assistant pastor and I'll walk away from this crowd and you can have every one of them. He said, they can be your headache for a while. He said, but if God does a new thing and opens up the earth, then you and all your little rebellious buddies will know that I serve God and that I am his man and that he's not going to put up with your mess. And so Okor shook his hand and said, okay. Man, that night Okor couldn't sleep all night. He could hear every cricket in town. I mean, he was so excited. He just knew the next day the old staff was going to be handed to him and he knew he was going to be the pastor of the rebellious Baptist church in the wilderness of sin. And so he was so excited he couldn't sleep straight. He woke up the next morning and they all got together and they had their cat head biscuits and their red eye gravy and they had their grits as they do as good southerners. Amen. And they all got together and they had their pancakes and everything and they shut it all down and then they got out there and they began to clap and the Bible says they began to sing the praise of God and guess what happened? All of a sudden there was a little rumble in the air. There was a little rumble down below and the Bible says that the earth opened her mouth without name. And the world literally opened up. It was a great earthquake. It split right open and the Bible says Korah and all that appertained unto him I believe if my memory serves me correct about 350 of his little cohorts his little buddies him and all of his tents and his camels and his donkeys and his dogs and his cats and his family except for one son by the way that you read about three chapters later by the name of Ebiassab three interesting words interesting study of that young man you find him again in Psalm chapter 85 but everybody that appertained to Korah except for his son Ebiassab was swallowed up and the Bible says get it they went alive down into the pit. You know we preachers are good about saying hey the only two people that ever left this world without living was Elijah and Enoch or without dying but that's not true 350 one of them left this earth without ever dying and it was Korah and all that appertained unto him and the Bible says that they went not dead but they went alive screaming down into the pit. Study that word pit sometimes I'm not a Hebrew scholar I'm not a Greek scholar I don't know a lot about Aramaic I have a hard time preaching in English but I'm going to tell you something that word pit is the Hebrew word shil it is the exact same word that Jesus used in the New Testament Hades it means Hades and the Bible says in Numbers chapter 16 because of the rebellion of that wicked fellow against the man of God the earth opened and Korah and his buddy and most of his family died and went alive straight down to hell now in Luke chapter number 16 we find out that Abraham looks at this young man and says I can't come to you you can't come to me because there is a great gulf between us now please understand if you study your Bible in Isaiah chapter number 5 if you study Luke chapter 16 if you study Ephesians chapter 2 and chapter number 3 and several other chapters that we don't have time to deal with tonight in context you will find out that in this particular time before Jesus died before he shed his blood before he who knew no sin became sin for us 2 Corinthians 5 21 in the heart of the earth there was a place called Hades where the wicked dead went in hell there was a great gulf a great valley fixed between and the other side there was a place Luke 16 which is called Abraham's bosom now you'll remember in Luke chapter 23 there were two fellows by the name of Malfactor that means they were thieves crooked they stole against the Roman government they broke into houses grand larceny all that kind of stuff and they deserved every bit of the judgment of the Roman government that they were getting but they were crucified one to the left and one to the right of somebody that did not deserve to be there for Isaiah 53 said he was crucified among the thieves among the criminals and so one of them reviled him one of them rebuked him but you remember what one of them said don't you he said Lord remember me when thou comest into your kingdom you know what Jesus told him today shalt thou be with me in what's the word you notice dear neighbor he did not say today shalt thou be with me in heaven you know why because heaven was a place of no access until the death the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ because you couldn't get there except by the provision that Jesus Christ made for you and me and so if I can say it tonight reverently there was an old testament holding tank for the saints of God it was called paradise it was called Abraham's bosom Jesus Christ died and the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 3 he went into the heart of the earth and he preached to the spirit in captivity he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men at that moment according to your Bible he shut down Abraham's bosom he shut down paradise he took those old testament saints straight to the kingdom of God and now when you die to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord you don't go to limbo sorry catholic friar you don't go to purgatory you will either go to heaven or you will go to hell because when Jesus closed down Abraham's bosom Isaiah chapter 5 and verse number 14 was fulfilled therefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth to meet thee at thy coming and Jesus closed down Abraham's bosom he closed down paradise and now every bit of that place that was available as Hades and Abraham's bosom there is now no gulf that's between but according to my Bible and the one that's in your lap tonight there is an actual reality called hell and its locality is beneath our feet right this very moment where actual people go but what is the third thing according to our Bible that people are screaming about in hell I believe number 3 they are screaming over hell you see Jesus was giving an illustration in the gospel of Mark and he looks at the scribes and Pharisees and by the way you'll find out Jesus preached some very very compassionate sermons in his three and a half years I mean he preached some very loving sermons he preached some very straightforward sermons but I'll tell you something he preached some very scolding sermons as well now I want you to do an interesting study for me would you every sermon Jesus ever preached that was in a demeaning spirit if you will in a spirit in which he was really trying to get his point across when you could tell he wasn't playing games he was through with monopoly he was done with checkers when he was tired of messing around when he really preached it straightforward you will notice every time Jesus preached a message like that a scathing message if you will it was always always always a scathing and that's the very thing he needs to turn from that's the very thing that's keeping him from being saved Jesus said I didn't say it Jesus said he would be better to pluck out one of his eyes and die and go to heaven having one good eye and one bad eye than to have two good eyes and die He says, if a man's hand offend him, if that man does something with his finger, does something with his hand to keep him from getting saved by the grace of God, Jesus said, basically, you'd be better to pull out a buzz saw and to chop off your arm, chop off your hand at the wrist and go to heaven having one good hand or one good arm and one bad arm than to go to hell with two good souls. And the analogy, no doubt, could continue to be made if somebody goes somewhere and the places that they go is what keeps their heart from being saved, then you would be better to cut off your leg and go to heaven having one leg. It should be made that it would be much better to leap into heaven, rather to limp into heaven than to leap into a place the Bible calls hell. And Jesus said, you people are fools. He said, because you're worried about the physical body. He said, you're worried about those that can hurt your flesh and hurt your body. He said, but I'd like to remind you there's a place of eternal fatality that is called hell, where both body and soul will be destroyed for all of eternity. And excuse me, it's not a place of annihilation, Mr. Jehovah's Witness friend. It's not a place where you go and you burn up and you're annihilated and then it's done, it's over with. It's not a soul sleep. It's an actual conscious place. The Bible says the worm dieth not, and you can believe what you want to, but I believe from my study and observation of the word of God, a man, a woman, a teenager, a boy and girl that dies without Christ and goes to hell, I believe their flesh will rot off and come back and rot off and come back and rot off and come back. And the Bible says there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. And it's an awful, terrible, horrendous. One of the things the devil has done in Hollywood is trying to get to the place where we have minimized hell. Now it's nothing more than a comic strip on Sunday morning. Now it's nothing more than a joke and the devil kind of runs around with little red horns on his head and a long little tail and a nice little pitchfork and he just kind of prods people. And he's got an angel on one shoulder and he's got a devil on the other shoulder. And we got the idea that the devil's no big deal, but I'd like to remind you that the devil one day is not in hell, but he's going to go to hell and he wants to drag as many people with him. 2 Corinthians 4, in verse 4, in whom the God, that's little g, little o, little b, that's the devil, in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not. Let the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. And the devil wants to do his dead-level diabolical best to keep you from ever being saved by the grace of God. You say, why? I'll tell you why. I remember when I was a kid, when I used to get in trouble, I never wanted to get in trouble by myself. I always wanted to get in trouble with somebody else. You know why? Because you don't like to go down by yourself. You like to go down with a bunch of people. It just kind of cushions it, if you will. You know what? The devil's doing his dead-level best to go down with as many people as he possibly can. Revelation chapter number 12 and verse 14, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, for the devil hath come down having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time, and he is doing everything in his power to wreck marriages, to ruin children, and to damn the souls of humanity. You see, ladies and gentlemen, the devil has always had three goals since he was kicked out of heaven in Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28. He wants to dethrone God. He wants to destroy Christians. And he wants to damn your souls to the length of fire. And he's doing a pretty good job of doing those things. And ladies and gentlemen, here is a man named the Lord Jesus Christ who looked at these mere people and he said, you know what your problem is? He said, you're worried about the physical. He said, you need to be worried about the spiritual, because there's an actual place, an actual place of fatality, an actual place of pain and suffering and torment, an actual place of darkness, yet flames are to be there. He said, an actual place where there's weeping, there's wailing, there's gnashing of teeth, and where the worm dieth not. And ladies and gentlemen, the people in hell are screaming over hell's reality, over hell's locality, and over hell's face. In 1929, there was a man that you've heard of, I'm sure. His name was Harry Houdini. Now, I'll say a couple of good things about Harry Houdini. He was probably one of the greatest escape artists and, you know, magicians that the world has ever known. But I'll say this, not to his credit, he was a Satanist. If Harry Houdini would have been alive today, he would have been a new age dope-smoking guru, is basically what he would be, and sit in a séance and have 666 probably across his forehead or something like that. He enjoyed mediums and sorcery and talking to the dead and all that bunch of trash and all that bunch of garbage that we got going on in the day and age in which we live. And by the way, if you let your kids read Harry Potter books, God pity your soul. If you take your kids to see a Harry Potter movie, God pity your soul, grandparent. God pity your soul, mom and dad. You say, well, it's just a harmless little thing. You think it's just a harmless little thing, but I'd like to remind you, Deuteronomy chapter number 18 forbids everything that Harry Potter says. And that's exactly the kind of stuff that Harry Houdini was encouraged about. And boy, he loved just the new age. Of course, back then it wasn't under the guise of new age. It was basically full-blown occultism. And he was into it very deeply. Well, his famous act, the greatest feat that he ever performed was what they called the white box. They'd take Harry Houdini and they'd kind of shuffle his body up and kind of fold him up after they put him in a straitjacket, wrapped about 12 or 15 chains around his body from neck to foot. They would push his little body together, put his little body inside that little four and a half, five foot little tent. They'd wrap chains all around it, put master locks on it. They'd hook a crane to one of those chains and lift it about 15 or 20 feet above the New York Bay, above the New York Harbor there. And all these people would stand around. They didn't have television cameras back then, but I'm telling you, all the newspaper reporters were there. And I mean, people were there and they were excited. And I mean, they stood there on that dock with bated breath and they would give Harry Houdini five minutes to escape out of that box. But there was no way he could get out. Everybody saw him go in. Everybody saw the chains wrapped about his body. They had a big burly man who would come up and shake those chains just to prove to the people that in actuality they were strong chains, they were durable chains, not just little old crackerjack chains. But they'd put him in there and lift him up and they'd see that box moving back and forth. They'd pull that crane's hand back and down into the chilly water to the New York Bay it would go. And everybody would look in and they would gasp and they were always amazed every time. As the box would fall into the chilly waters below, Harry Houdini would be standing on the edge of the dock with his arms around the people watching it fall in and how this man could perform such, what the newspaper called, miracles. And they never could figure it out. And that was what Harry Houdini was basically known for. Now there was many other things that he could do. But there was a time, October the 31st. Ring a bell? Halloween. October the 31st of 1929, that morning, Harry Houdini was performing another feat that he was famous for. It was called the Iron Stomach. Harry Houdini was a man whom they said if he held his hand did not know. He was not being rude. He was not trying to harm Mr. Houdini in any fashion whatsoever. He did not realize that Mr. Houdini had to brace himself and hold his breath. He pulled back his hand, hit Harry Houdini in the stomach, doubled him over. The people knew he was in great pain but he stood up probably out of embarrassment. He said he was fine and most doctors and most people who study the life of Harry Houdini believe that was the very thing in which he knew he was going to die. Internal bleeding started and he knew it wouldn't be very long. He'd be dead for daylight. That night he came to his wife. He was again in New York. He was going to be performing the lock box. He told his wife, October the 31st, 1929, he said, Honey, I'm not even going to attempt to get out of the lock box tonight. He said, My career's over. My career's through. I'll tell you exactly what I want you to do. He said, One year from tonight, October the 31st, 1930, he said, I want you to come to the place in which they buried my body. I want you to wear your wedding dress and I want you to sit down at about 12, 15, 12, 30 at night, have a little seance, light your candles, begin to pray, and I will reappear to you in spirit form. We'll once again be married and live together happily ever after. Everything will be just fine. He said, Don't you worry a bit about it. He said, Tonight I'll die but I'll see you exactly in one year. That night as thousands of people gathered at the New York Harbor, they began to watch the body of Harry Houdini as it was wrapped and they could tell that he was a little teakish, a little pale. Something was wrong with him. It was obvious. He knew he was free. They wrapped him up in that box and they put it in there and put all the chains and lifted it and five minutes went by and it dropped down to the chilly waters below. As the people gasped, they began to look around with big smiles of excitement and they were looking for Mr. Houdini. All of a sudden there was no more excitement and smiles but rather frowns and panic set in among the people. They began to look around and after about five or six minutes, a couple of divers dove down and they picked up that box and pulled it up and they cut the chains off and they opened it up and there was the cold, dead, drowned, lifeless body of their hero, Harry Houdini. If you read history books, you will find out 75,000 people attended one man's funeral. 75,000 people crowded the streets for one man. One year to the day, October the 31st of 1930, his wife at about midnight had a little dress on. She got in her horse and buggy. She drove down to the cemetery in which his body was buried six feet in the ground. 1215, she sat there and she put several candles around. She lit them. She folded her legs. She put her little hands up in a little seance and she began to meditate. She began to do her best to conjure the spirit of her dead husband, Harry Houdini, back to the dead. At 1230, there was no show. She stayed there and persisted for one more hour and at 130, obviously, there was no show. A little bit of despair filled her heart but she remembered the encouraging words of her husband, stay there, I'll be there, stay there, I'll be there. At about 130, 230 came, 245 came, 3 AM came and she had not showed and she stayed there and stayed there and stayed there and said to herself, I'll stay about 30 more minutes. She stayed until 330 in the wee hours of the morning praying for her dead husband to resurrect himself, if you will, in spirit form so they could once again reunite and be married and have themselves a wonderful life and she believed that stuff. At 330, she went and got back on her horse and buggy and drove back home. She sat down on an easy chair, picked a .357 Magnum, put it to her brain and blew her brains out the back of her skull. You hear me and you hear me well. Harry Houdini was the greatest escape artist that this world has ever known and there'll never be another one like him. And not even Harry Houdini himself could escape from the halls of hell. Hell is a place. I get to this and we're done tonight. Number four, I believe the people of hell are screaming over hell's eternality. I wish in a message like this I could give you some encouragement and say that hell was for five minutes. I wish I could give you some encouragement tonight and tell you that hell was for maybe only about 20 years. I wish tonight I could give you some encouragement and tell you that hell was a place that was maybe only 50 years or a hundred years at that. But I'd like to remind you, ladies and gentlemen, that the only, if I can even say it this way, that the only bit of relief the people in hell tonight will ever get are the day that they are resurrected in Revelation chapter number 20 and stand stark raving naked in front of the great white throne of God. Their name is not found in the Lamb's book of life. God says depart from me, you accursed in everlasting fire, not prepared for man. If you go to hell, you're a trespasser, isn't prepared for the devil. When their name is not found, they'll weep and wail and gnash their teeth and the Bible says they'll be cast. It literally means to plummet headlong over and over and over again into that abyss of darkness. And death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. And you hear me tonight, this punishment is eternal. I want everybody right now at the snap of my finger, I'd just like you to simply forsake the demonstration. I'd like you to just take in a deep breath and let it out. Would you do that with me tonight? Here we go. I let it out. Because you know, the moment you just did that, ten people just dropped dead and went straight to hell. You know, I can say it all over the church and that doesn't bother us, but can I remind you every breath you take like that for the rest of your life, ten more people will die and go straight to hell. You see, the Bible teaches this. Heaven is going to be much, much better. But hell and the lake of fire are going to be much, because we've lost our burden and it no longer bothers us that millions, millions, millions of people are going out into what we call a crisis. Now let's flip a coin just for a moment, shall we? We've been pretty dismal tonight. Let's try to encourage things, lighten things up before we close. I don't know about you, but I don't have to sit on my head at night and say, oh, I hope I don't wake up in hell. I used to have to do that for 16 years, but I don't do that anymore. You see, ladies and gentlemen, April the 17th of 1992, 830 at night, the Metropolitan Madness Church, I was saved by the glorious grace of God. I don't care what you, me, the devil, or anybody else says. I can swing over hell in a rotten corn stall, spit the devil in the eye and sing Amazing Grace. I've got my salvation. It's not going one place. I'm securing Jesus Christ. I'm not holding on until the end. I'm not doing my best. I'm not hoping so. I'm not holding on to anything. He's holding on to me. He saved me. He sealed me. He secured me. And one day when I close my eyes in death or maybe when the rapture takes place, I'm going to kick up glory dust on the streets of gold. And ladies and gentlemen, Jesus said, I have prepared a place for you in my Father's house of many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there you may be also. John chapter 14, verses 2, 3, and 4. And I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, just as real as the place of hell tonight, there is also a real place that is called heaven where the saints of God are going to go. And unless you misunderstand your Bible, you're not going to be the main attraction, nor am I, but Jesus Christ is. The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And we're going to fall down, and we're going to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. And at the judgment seat of Christ, we're going to pull off our crowns according to Revelation chapter 5 and cast them back at the feet of the Lamb and say, Thou art worthy, He that redeemed us back to God again out of every nation, out of every kindred, out of every people, out of every language, out of every tongue. And we will not be the ones on display in that day, but for all of eternity, we'll get to sing the mighty praises of God. I heard a preacher say one time, I love to preach, but I'm sad to tell you that there'll be no preaching in heaven. I don't believe that. I love to preach, and I believe there'll be plenty of preaching opportunities in heaven because you know what? The angels don't know what it means to be redeemed because they've never been lost. And so I'm going to take about 42 million of them, I'm going to sit them down in a golden coliseum, and I'm going to tell them what it's like to be saved and redeemed by the glorious grace of God. And I know what? One thing, friend. One day, some of you Stoic Baptists will say amen for the first time in your life. I promise you that. Some of you might even put your hands in the air, God forbid that. Some of you might even actually sing in a choir one day, and you might actually get excited about the grace of God. And by the way, if you're not excited about what God's done for you down here, I promise you one thing. More than likely, if you can't get to the place where what God's done for you can excite you down here, more than likely it won't excite you up there because you probably won't. And I'm sick to the gills of dead, formalistic, godless, that are filled with people who can't even let out a holy grunt. I don't care if you skim up a tent pole, kick up sawdust and run all over the place. That doesn't bother me. You don't have to do that to be saved. I'm going to tell you something. You will be excited about the grace of God. And for all of eternity, we get to rejoice with a bright, holy God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I can't explain that to you. There was a lady in Sunday school. She got up in front of her third graders and she said, now boys and girls today, we're going to learn about three in one that's in heaven right now. Everybody's eyes got real big and she said, we're going to learn a big word called the Trinity. She said, now I can't explain the Trinity to you. I'm going to explain it the best I can, but I just can't explain it. It's just unexplainable. A little girl stood up in her chair and she said, no sir, I can explain it real fine. She said, there's nothing hard to be understood about the Trinity at all. She said, you mean to tell me little girl that you can explain the Trinity? She said, oh yeah. She said, it goes like this. She said, there's three in one and one in three and the one in the middle died for me. I'm going to tell you something. There's three in one and one in three and the one in the middle died for me and for all of eternity I'm going to get to see the one that died for me was buried and rose again and what a day of rejoicing that will be when we all get to heaven. But you know what? Just as long as you and I as God's people are in heaven rejoicing, so those who have never been saved by the grace of God, so those who have rejected God's offer of salvation will be in hell the very same race of time. Eternal punishment and pain, no help, no deliverance, no salvation, no satisfaction, ease. I close with this tonight. I found this maybe a month and a half or two months ago. I was going through some things that I had in my trailer and I came across an interesting illustration and so I dug and dug until I found some things that would suit my fancy until I could actually find out the statistics and actually find out the truths and all of this and started getting to dig a little bit and found out that in 1995 in Chicago, Illinois there was a young 16 year old boy by the name of Martin Brewer. Young black boy and mama loved him and didn't have a daddy. Always being picked on in school and that bothered this dude right here and he didn't like it. He'd always get in fights. From the time he was 14 he began to smoke dope and just began to act like a little rebellious person and just began to skip school and just threw into here and threw into there. Then his dope finally led to crack cocaine when he was about 15 years old and finally when he was 16 years old his mama couldn't do anything with him. His daddy wasn't around and didn't know him from the time he was even born. His mama worked faithfully every day in a little garment factory just about two blocks down the street just across the road from their house. They lived there in what we would consider respectively the projects the lower side of town the lower district fixed income didn't have a whole lot of money. Martin Brewer Martin Brewer was one of the most wicked kids in Chicago, Illinois. He hated God he'd been to church before but laughed his mother begged him to get saved he didn't care anything about it whatsoever. In 1995 on the front page you heard me on the front page of the Chicago Tribune his mother printed this letter that I am going to read to you tonight I told you the other night I'm not real big on reading things when I preach but for sake of the illustration I did not want to memorize it. I've only read this a couple of times but on the front page his mother made sure this was printed exactly as I'm going to read it to you word for word. Message left on the kitchen table by 16 year old Martin at 9.35 a.m. here it goes I hope no spark sets it off 9.37 a.m. I can't smell gas anymore but maybe it's just because I'm nervous. At 9.40 I shut off all the breakers of electricity in the house At 9.41 a.m. I think I'll lay my head down the gas has no effect on me as of yet At 9.48 a.m. I disconnected the telephone and at 9.49 I'm taking a deep breath but the gas seems to have no effect on me It seems to leave pains in my lungs but maybe that's just my fearful imagination At 9.55 a.m. there is no effect I hope there's no convulsions involved in this At 9.57 a.m. I'm beginning to feel hungry and sick to my stomach At 9.59 my throat feels dry and the gas is starting to have a great effect on my body At 10.46 a.m. I am very dizzy The new method of running a vacuum cleaner hose from the oven to my mouth and putting a plastic bag over my head seems to be working quite well At 11.10 a.m. I am light-headed very dizzy and the new method seems to be working just fine Gas leaves a funny taste in a person's mouth I have already passed out once and I am sick to my stomach At 11.45 a.m. I am trying to die There is a strange ringing in my head Also I find myself screaming and yelling out loud Now I am talking to myself but it seems to be in a funny high-pitched voice And with these last five words Martin Brewer ended his dissertation But why can't I At 12.05 in the afternoon his mother came home for a lunch break and found her 16-year-old son Martin Brewer with a plastic bag over his head and a vacuum cleaner hose shoved in his mouth running from the propane oven of their kitchen and he was dead I will tell you something Martin Brewer asked a real good question But why can't I And did you know Martin Brewer has been asking the very same question ever since 19 Why can't I die I'll tell you why because there's no death Death will flee from you and you will be in the eternal flames of a place called the lake of fire for all of eternity lifting up your voice When is it going to end And it will never So as we begin our sermon So we end it tonight What's everybody screaming