In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of making a choice between life and death, heaven and hell. He urges the audience to come to Jesus and let Him pay for their sins, rather than rejecting Him and facing the consequences of their own sin debt. The preacher highlights the need for true belief and obedience to God, stating that one's actions reflect their faith. He shares his personal experience of realizing his rebellion against God and seeking His mercy, emphasizing the urgency of accepting Christ before it is too late. The sermon also references John 5:28-29, which speaks about the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

I want to tell you one of the real proofs that the Bible is the Word of God is that the Bible always condemns sin. You know, we as men, we have a way of kind of pretending, rationalizing, covering our sin up, saying it's not all that bad, but you know God never does that. God never rationalizes and God never pretends that sin is anything other than rebellion against God. I want to tell you when God talks about men in the Bible, He tells about their good things. He tells about their bad things. God does not whitewash anything because you know why? Because God is holy and God is just and God is righteous and God cannot do anything except the very, very best. And when God tells about a man's life, He tells the good and the bad. And the Bible talks about sin. You see my dear friends, there's only one God in heaven. He is the living God, the true God. He created you and me and He created you and me for one reason, to have fellowship with us. God loves us and wants to have a personal relationship. He wants us to live for Him and one day He wants to take us to heaven to continue having a relationship in this wonderful, glorious place called heaven. But the Bible says we have sinned against God and my friend, our holy God hates sin. And the Bible talks about sin. In fact, this verse I've just read to you, he that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believes not, what, is condemned already, why? Because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. My friend, I want to tell you, the Bible talks about sin. It talks about some terrible sin. In 1 Corinthians 6, 9, 10, and 11, it says, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Now that's quite a list, isn't it? I mean, that's quite a list of sinners right there. God names every vile, wicked sin you can imagine. But look at verse 11, it says, and such were some of you. But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Friend, I want to tell you, I cannot comprehend the grace of God. I believe in the grace of God. I know it is only God's wonderful and marvelous grace that forgives sin and saves souls. I must tell you, I do not understand about the grace of God. I do not understand how a God who is holy and righteous and just and perfect and blameless can love you and I so much that He will simply pour out His wonderful and marvelous grace and save our soul. The Bible says, for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I can understand about hell. I can believe in hell. I can understand how men who rebel against God are condemned to hell, but I cannot understand the grace of God, the mercy of God, the forgiveness of God. God forgives some of the most wicked, horrible sins that you can even comprehend or imagine. You read the Bible, the Bible is full of stories of men who have been forgiven of horrible sin. I think about the apostle Paul. He was a man who was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was a man who hated Christians. He was a man who persecuted folks who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a man who was a blasphemer against God. And yet he was a man when he came face to face with a living God, he fell on his face. God supernaturally changed him and saved his soul. What a horrible, wicked sinner. And yet God forgave him of that horrible, wicked sin. Here was a man by the name of David. David was a man. The Bible says a man after God's own heart. And yet David committed adultery and David committed murder. Here was a man who committed two of what we would call the most, the most awful sins that a man can commit. And yet God forgave him and cleansed him. God will forgive the most vile sin. I think about in the Bible, I think about old lot, old lot went into a homosexual town and he had relationships with a bunch of homosexuals that they were his best friends. They were his associates. But the Bible says he even had sexual relationships with two of his own daughters. Here was a man who was a wicked, wicked sinner. But the Bible says later on that lot was a just man. God forgave him of that sin. I think about Rahab. Here was Rahab there in Jericho. She was a prostitute. She was a prostitute. And yet the Bible says when she sought mercy from God, she found that God washed away those horrible sin. I think about the woman at the well, Jesus Christ came upon her. She had been married five times. She was living with a man who was not her husband. And yet Jesus Christ said, I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. He covered her sins, friends. He forgave her and he cleansed her. God is a God of forgiveness and mercy. Hallelujah. He does forgive sin. But I will tell you, friend, there's a sin in the Bible that is worse than murder. There's a sin that's worse than adultery. There's a sin worse than being a prostitute. There's a sin that is worse than being a homosexual. The Bible says the worst sin of all is the sin, are you listening, of unbelief. That's the worst sin of all. You see, it is the sin of unbelief that condemns a man to hell. It is not the sin of murder or robbery or rape or adultery or selling drugs to little kids. The sin that condemns the world to hell is the sin of unbelief. The Bible says he that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believes not is condemned already. Why? Because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. You see, unbelief has been the sin down through history. It was the sin of unbelief, friend, that caused Eve to believe the devil. She was there in the garden of Eden. God had told her what she needed to do, what she shouldn't do, but Eve did not believe God. She did not believe if she ate this fruit that she would surely die. The devil whispered in her ears, says, no, you eat that fruit and you'll be like God. And she believed the devil rather than believing the God of the universe. The sin of Eve was unbelief. That was the sin in Noah's day. The people in Noah's day, they did not believe God. God has given his word that he was going to send a worldwide flood. He was going to kill everybody who was not in the ark and they did not believe God. And when the flood came, they perished. You see, unbelief is the sin that God hates more than any other sin. You say, well, wait a minute, William, I'm not an unbeliever. I believe in God. And my friend, that word believe is the most important word in your life. Whether you go to heaven or hell depends on whether you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the story of the Bible is this. You have sinned against God. You have rebelled against God and God has given his word. The wages of sin is death because you are a sinner. You are condemned to hell. There's nothing you can do to save yourself. But the God of heaven has sent his son to pay your sin debt for you. He took your sin. He went to a cross. He took your place. He has paid your sin debt. He was buried in a tomb. And after three days, God raised him from the dead. And the Bible says, if a man will repent and believe he can be forgiven, he can be saved. And people all across America say, well, William, I've heard that story all my life. I believe in Jesus, but listen very carefully. There are two kinds of belief in the Bible. One belief will take you to heaven, but the other belief will take you straight to hell. You see, my friends, the Bible says the devils believe in Jesus a certain way. You see the way to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, sir, is not to believe it with your head. The word believe in the Greek, the word pistou means to trust your life to it, to surrender your will to it, to become one with the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, you may believe in God and be an unbeliever. You may have walked an aisle and prayed a prayer and still be an unbeliever. You may come and be baptized and be an unbeliever. You may be the best moral man in all of the state of Mississippi and still be an unbeliever in the eyes of a holy God. My friend, to be a believer in God's eyes, you must do what the Bible says to do. You must repent of your sin. You must turn away from the world. You must surrender your life and your will and your heart to the Lord Jesus. You must be converted by the Holy Spirit. My friend, I want to tell you, you can repent. You can call upon the name of the Lord. You can do whatever you can do, but I'm telling you until the Holy Spirit comes and converts you, you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And how can you tell if you're a believer? The Bible says it will produce evidence in your life. I'm telling you when a man gets saved, he wants to live for God. When a man really is a believer, he wants to win other people to Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you, man, if you don't have a hunger for God, if you don't have a passion for God, if you don't have a burden for lost people, why in the world would you think you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? My friend, those early New Testament Christians, they lost everything they had. They lost their jobs. They lost their families. They lost their friends. They lost their life. When a man becomes a follower of Christ, the Bible says you must die in order to live. The Bible says you must sell everything you own, give it to the poor, take up your cross and follow him. Friend, this is no name be found me religion friend. This is giving your life to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And some of you here tonight are unbelievers. Oh, you're a good person, a moral person, a decent person. You've walked an aisle, you've prayed a prayer. You may even believe in God, but you've never done what the Bible says to do, sir. You've never repented and given your life to Jesus. And therefore God classifies you as an unbeliever. And unbelief is the worst sin of all. You know why? Number one, unbelief puts you under the condemnation of God. The Bible says he that believes not is condemned already. Friend, I will tell you, when you die, they have your funeral. There's no need to have all your lodge brothers come out there with those little aprons and pray for you. They're not going to get you out of hell. Friend, you are under the condemnation of God right here, right now. See, the Bible doesn't say once you die, you'll be condemned. No, if you are an unbeliever, you are under the condemnation of God right here, right now. In the eyes of a holy God, he sees you as a man on death row, a man who's had a trial, a man who's been found guilty, a man who is waiting for his execution day. I'm telling you to be condemned in the eyes of a holy God means at this very moment, you are one heartbeat away from hell. And I will tell you, friends, to be under the condemnation of God is a horrifying thought. I mean, you think about it for a moment. They are on death row. I told you the story about in Atmore, Alabama. My dad was the man who wired the electric chair in the big penitentiary there in Atmore. And off the, a few feet away from the electric chair, they have eight or nine cells where they put the men who have been condemned to die. And here are these men. They're just a few feet away from the electric chair. They've already had their trial. The evidence has already been presented. The jury has already deliberated. The jury has already found them guilty and has sentenced them to die. They are waiting in these little cells on death row. They are waiting for their execution day. They are condemned already. That's what God sees in you, sir. In the eyes of a holy God, God looked at your life. And because you are an unbeliever, God says, therefore you are condemned already. In the eyes of a holy God, you'll not one day stand before God and be lost. No, sir. You're lost right now. In the eyes of God, you are sentenced to die. You are on death row at this very moment, condemned already. What a horrifying place to be in the eyes of the God of this universe. And yet that's where some of you are tonight. You're under the condemnation of God. Today I see folks all the time under the condemnation of God and they're trying to pretend that it doesn't really matter. They're out there drinking and laughing and smoking, trying to have a high old time that somehow they're going to get away with their sin. They think because God is a God of love that somehow when it comes to that great judgment day, God's just going to kind of laugh about their sin and push it off to the side. But sir, God is a holy God and God is a just God and God is a righteous God and God has patience. But I'm telling you, there comes a day when God's patience runs out. There comes a day when holy God says, be not deceived. God is not mocked for whatsoever a man sows that he'll also reap. The Bible says one day you will stand before God at the great white throne judgment and the wrath of God will be poured out. Let me read to you what the Bible says about the wrath of God. In Psalm 103, 8 it says, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. And then it says in Isaiah 28, 21, Jehovah will rise up. He shall be wroth that he may do his work, his strange work and bring to pass his act, this strange act of judgment. Psalm 76, 7 says, thou, even thou art to be feared who may stand in the side of God. When once God is angered, the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And my friends, you hear me. God is a God of love. God loves you like nobody else can love you. And God loves you so much. He sent his son to die on a cross to pay your sin death. But when you reject the love of God, when you reject salvation, when you are an unbeliever, you are spinning in the face of God. You are rejecting God's love, God's grace. You are under the condemnation of God. And I'm telling you, God is a God of love. But if you are an unbeliever, you ought to be scared to death that one day you'll stand before God and give an account of your life to God. You see, to be an unbeliever puts you under the condemnation of God, number one. But number two, to be an unbeliever robs you of eternal life. He that believes on the son has everlasting life, but he that believes not on the son shall not see life for the wrath of God abides on him. You see, my friends, the Bible says God loves you and God wants you to be saved. The Bible says God has prepared a place for those that love him. The Bible says, listen, don't, don't worry. Jesus Christ said, I've gone to prepare a place for you. And if I've gone to prepare a place, I will come again and receive you unto myself so that where I am there, you may be also. Friend, I want to tell you, Jesus Christ, the Lord of this universe has prepared a place for those who believe in him, for those who have committed their life to him. And the Bible says, eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it even entered into the mind of man, the things that God has prepared for those that love him. But friend, if you are an unbeliever, you'll never see heaven. You'll never see heaven. You'll never enter into those pearly gates. You'll never walk on those streets of gold. You'll never go into that mansion that has been prepared by the hands of the living God unbelief robs you of eternal life. You'll never see those loved ones again in heaven. You'll never see that mom and that dad that were Christians. You'll never see that little son or that daughter that were Christians. You never see those grandparents that were Christians because unbelief robs you of God's very best. My friends, you were created by the hands of the living God and he created you to fellowship with you and to love you and to have a personal relationship with you. He has prepared a place for you in glory, a place called heaven. And as an unbelief, an unbeliever, he is robbed of God's plan for his life. He is robbed of eternal life. What could be worse than that? To be robbed from a place called heaven and to be condemned to a place called hell. You see my friends, the Bible says a man here on earth makes the decision. If a man here on earth loves God and follows God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and has a relationship with God, when he dies, he goes to heaven. He just keeps on keeping on with God. He keeps on worshiping God, keeps on praising God, keeps on loving God, man. When you come to Christ, your eternal life begins right here, right now. And one day you go to heaven to continue eternal life. But if you die without Jesus, if you've lived without God, you've lived a selfish and self-centered life, you've lived a rebellious life, you've lived without God, sir, when you die, you just keep living without God in a place the Bible calls hell. The Bible says it's going to be a great judgment day. The Bible tells, friend, in Revelation 21, verse 12 and 13, it says, and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell deliver up the dead which were in them. And they were judged out of the things which were written in the books according to their works. John 5, 28, 29 says, marvel not at this for the hour is coming, sir, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good until the resurrection of life and they that have done evil until the resurrection of damnation. Friend, I want to tell you, it is awful to be an unbeliever. What you are saying is you're saying, God, I don't believe in you. I don't believe in your promises. I don't believe in your, your word. I don't believe in your commitments to me, God, I choose to believe my own heart, my own mind. I choose to believe the things of the world. God, I refuse to trust you. It is the worst sin that a man can commit. It puts him under the condemnation of God, number one, but number two, it robs him of eternal life. But then number three, to be an unbeliever, it simply puts you in the worst company of sinners the world has to offer. Listen to what the Bible says, sir, you're here tonight, you're puffed up and prideful, but you're an unbeliever. Let me tell you what God says about you. In Revelation 21, verse 8, it says, but the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and horror mongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. You're here tonight, you worked hard your whole life, you want to live in a nice house, you want to live in a nice neighborhood, you want your kids to go to nice schools, you want to have a nice relationship with everybody, but I'm telling you, if you are an unbeliever, Almighty God tonight groups you with the most vile, wicked sinners the world has ever known. If you are an unbeliever, I don't care how good you are in the eyes of the world, I don't care how religious you are, God groups you with this group I've just read, the abominable. My, the abominable, those that are spiritually and morally and physically filthy. Those folks who have, who are simply a stench in the nostrils of God. My word, what an awful group to be with, but God says the unbeliever are with the abominable and then they are with the murderers. Think about that. Those folks who have taken innocent lives. Those men who have cut the throats of women. Those men who have, who have, who have taken lives and they've been selfish and lustful and killed other people. My friend, you wouldn't want to spend one night in a jail cell with a murderer. And God looks at you tonight, He says, you're an unbeliever, in my eyes you're the same thing as a murderer. I classify you with the abominable and the murderers. And then number three, He said, you're the same as whoremongers. Those lewd and adulterous crowd. Those that their minds wallow in the gutters. Those people who live for the devil and practice sin, the whoremongers of the world. And then, sorcerers. Those folks that practice witchcraft, demonology. Those people that get down there and make sacrifices, human sacrifices or animal sacrifices. Those you read about in the newspaper where they mix blood and urine together and drink it. Those folks that worship the devils. God says you'll be with that class of people as an unbeliever. The sorcerers are then idolaters. Those that just worship images of false gods and all liars. The first two names mentioned are fearful and unbelieving. See, some people will go to hell because they're afraid to be saved. Some of you will go to hell because you're afraid of what your buddy might say. You're afraid of what your friend might say. You're afraid of the persecution you're going to get at church, I mean at school. You're going to be afraid of the persecution you're going to get on the job. But you're here and you are fearful. You're not going to come to Christ because you're afraid of some sin you've got to give up. You're just afraid. God said the fearful will go to hell. But the one I want to talk about is unbelievers. The second name mentioned on the list is unbelievers. My friend, that just scares me to death for some of you. You are here tonight. You're a nice person in the eyes of the world. You're a moral person in the eyes of the world. But you've never done what the Bible says. You've never repented. You've never given your life to Christ. You've never surrendered your will to God. You've not been born again by the Holy Spirit. And God classifies you as an unbeliever. And the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall be lumped together to be cast in the lake of fire, which is the second death. My friend, to be an unbeliever puts you in a class of the worst, most vile, wicked sinners in all the world. But to be an unbeliever finally is a rejection of the love of God. It amazes me to see men reject Jesus. It amazes me. The Bible says God has demonstrated His love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. My friend, the Bible says we have sinned against the Most High God. We have been rebels our whole life. We have been selfish and self-centered. We are sinners in the eyes of God. And God has declared the wages of sin is death. If we were to get what we deserve, we would go to hell. If every person here tonight got their just rewards, you would go to the lake of fire right here and right now. But God loves you so much that even though you deserve to go to hell, God sent His Son and Jesus has taken your sin and has taken your place. He went to the cross and He died so that you could live. He suffered hell so that you could enjoy heaven. He was buried in a tomb and after three days, God raised Him from the dead. He's alive in heaven and one day He's coming back. He wants the best for you. And to see men fight against the love of God, to see men bow their neck and harden their heart and hang on to some sorry sin when the King of the universe comes with love and joy and peace, to forgive them and save their soul and to see men bow their neck, harden their heart and reject the love of God. I tell you what, it's the saddest thing I've ever seen. And I see men all across America do that. So full of pride. The Bible says pride will bind you up like a chain. There are some of you here tonight, you've got so much pride that if Jesus Christ were to come into service tonight and tap you on the shoulder and say, you need to get saved, your old pride would keep you from getting saved. That's how bound up you are. You're so bound up in your lust and your sin that right now you'd rather make a decision to go to hell than to give up that sin. That's why unbelief is such a wicked sin. It is rejecting the God of this universe. It is rejecting heaven. It's rejecting the best God has to offer. It puts you under the condemnation of God. It puts you in the company of the most vile, wicked sinners the world has ever known. And yet that's where you are. You are an unbeliever. And God sent you here tonight to save your soul. And I pray you won't miss it tonight. I pray you'll come and give your heart to Christ before it's too late. Don't leave and go to hell. Don't continue in your unbelief. You say, William, I'm as good as anybody in the church will serve. That's absolutely true. You may be better than most people in the church, but a lot of folks in church are going to hell. So don't bank on going to heaven because you're better than everybody in the church. You see, my friends, your morality is not enough. Your good life is not enough. Your church membership is not enough. The Bible says you must do what God has commanded. You must repent. You must turn away from the world and turn to the living and true God and surrender your life and your will to him holding nothing back. You see, there's nobody here tonight who was a bigger sinner than I was. There's nobody here tonight that was more prideful than I was. There's nobody here tonight that was more rebellious against God than I was. There's nobody here tonight who lived a more selfish and self-centered life than I did. I lived a long time without God. Oh, I'd walked an aisle when I was 12, prayed a little bitty prayer, got dunked in some water, but I didn't have the spirit of a living God. And I lived out there absolutely, positively, 100% for myself. I did what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it and nobody would stop me. Nobody would get in my way, buddy. I lived for myself and I lived for the world. I was an unbeliever. I was a man who simply shook my fist in God's face and I said, God, I know you're up there, but someday I'll get right, but right now I'm going to do what I want to do when I want to do it. I was a sinner against the most high God, but at the age of 36, a man looked me straight in the eye. He said, you're an unbeliever. You're a sinner. You bound up with the chains of pride and right now you are under the condemnation of God. You are doomed and damned. You have no hope in yourself, but he said, the good news is God loves you and God wants to save you. He said, but William, you've got a choice to make. He said, you can choose life or you can choose death. He said, you can choose heaven or you can choose hell. He said, William, you can choose to come and give your life to Jesus or you can choose to reject Jesus and hang on to your own sin. But he said, William, if you reject Christ, you'll die and go to hell. I want to tell you, man, I was 36 years old when I heard that story and it's like God reached up and turned a light on in my mind and for the first time in my life, I saw what I really was, a rebel against God, lost and condemned. And I got on my knees that night and I said, oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I said, God, I'm the biggest sinner in town. I've lived without you. I've ignored you, God. I've sinned. I've done everything there is, God. I've lived a rebellious life, but God, I'm sorry. But I said, God, I believe you love me and I believe Jesus died for me. I said, God, I must confess, I don't understand everything about it, but I believe it with all my heart. And God, I make a decision. I turn away from the sins of the world and I turn to you with an open heart and I ask you to forgive me and save me. Come into my heart and make a new man out of me. And I'm telling you that night, man, I got up off my knees and God had done a work in my life that I can't even explain to you tonight. But I got up, man, and something in my heart that night had changed. And I began to think differently and act differently. I began to pray and read my Bible. I got a burden for lost people. I started to win people to Christ. I had a passion for God. That was Thursday night, October 24th, 1983. I was 36 and my friend, that passion for God has not dimmed one single ounce from tonight. God changed my life. And there are some of you here tonight, you think you've got everything there is to have from God, but you are so wrong. What you have is religion. That's why you don't have a passion for God. That's why you don't win anybody to Jesus. That's why it's such a chore to come to church. That's why it's so easy to do bad and so hard to do good because you don't have the spirit of the living God. You know all about Jesus, but you don't know him personally in your life. And I am convinced that 75% of all church members have never been truly born again. They are unbelievers. You see how you tell a believer, not by what comes out of his mouth, but how he lives his life. You can prance around and you can talk a good game and you can say you love Jesus and you say you believe in God. You say you're a Christian. You can talk till you're blue in the face. But my friends, what you are is not what you say. What you are is what you do. You love Christ. The Bible says if you love Jesus, obey Jesus. The Bible says if you love God, obey God. The Bible says if you really are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are dead to the old ways. You are dead to the lust of the world. You seek in hunger after the things of God. And sir, if you are living like a lost man, the Bible says you're a lost man. You see, when a man gets the spirit of the living God, you don't have to beat him over the head. You don't have to put him on a guilt trip because when a man gets the spirit of God, he seeks and hungers after the things of God. And my friend, and I don't want to tell you if you don't have a passion for God, if you don't have holiness in your life, if you don't have righteousness in your life, if you don't have godliness in your life, regardless of what you've done, you are an unbeliever. And unbelief is the biggest sin in the Bible, the most worst sin in the Bible because simply it is a rejection. You're not believing God. You're not believing God. It puts you under the condemnation of God. It causes you to be, to lose out on heaven. It causes you to be grouped together with the worst sinners the world's ever known, and it causes you to actually reject the love of God. But tonight, God brought you here to turn you around. God brought you here to save your soul. Tonight is the opportunity of a lifetime. Tonight God's going to open your eyes, he's going to quicken your mind, he's going to touch your heart, and God's going to speak to you tonight. And I'm going to tell you tonight, you've got a choice to make, just like I had a choice to make. Tonight, you can choose life or you can choose death. You can choose heaven or you can choose hell. You can choose to come to Jesus and let him pay for your sins, or you can choose to reject Jesus and pay for your own sin debt, and one day be cast into hell. But the Bible says God is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. God's desire tonight is that you really become a believer, born again by the Spirit of the living God.