Forever Lost in a Dark Hell

Well, it's good to be here this evening, friends. I'm at an age where I've been close to death myself, and I've seen a lot of people die. I've had to say goodbye to friends, to co-workers, to neighbors, and to loved ones, and stand at their casket and look down at their corpses as they each had died.

You listen carefully to my message tonight, friends, because it concerns you. Listen to this message, every one of you, within the sound of my voice, has a red-letter day waiting for them. A red-letter day written in God's appointment book, and that is the day of your death.

You will die sooner or later, and it may be sooner than you realize we've got no guarantee of tomorrow. One day you will die, and God already knows when that day will come, when the death angel visits you to take you out of this world to go into another world, either heaven or hell. There's no in-between, a bode for the dead, like the purgatory of the Catholics.

No, friends, when it's your time to die, you die, and your soul will go to one of two places, either to heaven or to hell. Listen to me, friends. It's hot out here this evening.

It's around 100 degrees, but it's a lot hotter in hell. If I were you, friend, I'd be very concerned about the current state of your soul. You are each eternity bound, men and women.

Listen to me, young person. You are eternity bound, and you have a red-letter day already written in God's appointment book. It's your date with death.

If you are a saved individual, you will enjoy Jesus forever in heaven, but if you die with your sins unpardoned, you will awake in a region of darkness, smoke, and fire. Many men lie under a devil-induced stupor of false security as they sit on rotten bottoms, ready to break apart at any moment, sending them down to a dark devil's hell. They are ignorant to their danger and constant peril of being outside of Christ's blood and under the condemnation of a holy God.

Sinners live beneath the condemnation of a holy God, and although the sword of justice, glimmering with their own blood, hangs suspended over their heads by a thin thread, the sentence of damnation is not yet executed upon them. Hence, they live in false peace on a false foundation of carnal security. Jesus calls hell outer darkness because it's a dark place, friend, and unless a person is awakened to their lost condition, they will be forever lost in a dark hell.

And that's the title of my message this evening, friends, Forever Lost in a Dark Hell. Oh, dear friend, please lend me your ears and give me your undivided attention as I bring this message before you. I don't think you know what it means to be forever lost.

Maybe some of you have heard of Mordecai Ham. He was the evangelist who led Billy Graham to the Lord. Mordecai Ham often told the story about how a young Billy Graham was saved in a tent meeting under his preaching.

But Mordecai Ham often told another story, which was a lot darker, how he communicated with a dead girl in hell, which I want to share with you right now, friends. Here is the chilling account of a girl called Lulu, who Mordecai Ham sat by her dying bedside as she was facing a horrible death as an eternally lost individual. Listen to his story, friends.

Lulu is dying. Her mother sobbed. I hurried to the girl's bedside to talk to her about her need of salvation.

I played with her for a long time, but to no avail. She refused to listen. She refused to hearken.

Then she closed her eyes in death. I called to her, Lulu, how is it? A voice came back, not the voice of one living, but that of one who is in another world. It was a voice that came up from the depths without any sign or movement of the dead girl's lips or throat muscles, a voice that I have heard only once in my life and that I have never been able to forget.

Lulu, how is it? Lulu called back from a world beyond, lost, lost, oh, oh, so dark, so dark. Lulu was forever lost. Listen to me, friends.

To be forever lost is to know eternal banishment from God forever. You have God now in the world to varying degrees. God is the one who gives you the ability to make money, to give you talent to make a living and to live in this world.

God gives you the air to breathe and water to drink and food to eat as you enjoy his creation. While you have life still in your body, you have God's long-suffering towards you as the sentencing of the law has not yet been carried out against you. For all guilty sinners must be punished for sin for the transgression of God's holy law.

Every one of you have at some time broken one or more of his commandments. You have stolen. You have lied.

You have taken his name in vain or committed covetousness or disregarded his Sabbath as you failed to keep it holy. God's law is strict and severe. At some point in the future, on the day of judgment, God will review your life according to how you lived it measured against his strict law.

Every mother's son has broken the law of God and must face the sentencing of the law which is when all guilty lawbreakers will have to stand before the judge of the universe. Listen to me, friend. You are by nature a lawbreaker who hates authority and all things holy.

You hate the idea of the lordship of Jesus Christ having any rule or reign over your life so whether you are a saved individual, right at this moment or not, you still have a measure of God in this world. But if you are removed from earth by death and your soul goes out into eternity, if you die outside of the safety of being in Christ as a born-again believer with forgiveness of sin, then you go out into eternity to a place of darkness which is eternal banishment from God forever. There is no mercy in hell.

There is no light in hell. Hell is a dark place. God's justice is no longer restrained and His outpoured wrath falls continually on the heads of sinners in hell without end, with no relief.

He is deaf to your cries. He is blind to your pleading. He is removed from you as you are banished from God forever.

His anger burns like an oven on the damned in hell. We read in the book of Malachi in the Bible, For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that shall leave them neither root nor branch to be forever lost, friend, is to be forever alone, forever forsaken of God Almighty.

Let me read you, friends, what to expect to happen to you if you die in your sins outside of the blood of Christ. If you have your Bible with you, turn to the book of Revelation. We will be in chapter 20, beginning in verse 11.

You listen to these words, friends, as they describe the terrible scene of the final judgment of mankind. Put yourself there, in that courtroom scene where the judge of all the earth sits on a terrible throne of authority and majesty. This awful, solemn scene describes the horror of being banished from God forever.

Hear now, is the word of God, and may God's Holy Spirit attend the reading of His holy word. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away, and there was found no place for them. 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 delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man, according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Let me pause here, friends, to explain that the second death mentioned here speaks of being thrown into hell to be banished from God for ever.

And when I say thrown into hell, I mean thrown. You will not go there willingly. You will not walk into hell on your own accord.

I want to tell you a story about a woman who sat on death row. She was a murderer who used to marry men and then kill them for their life insurance, when she was finally caught, sentenced by a judge and jury, and imprisoned on death row. One of the guards in charge of her said the following story about his guarding this woman who was a condemned murderer.

He said she had the filthiest mouth he had ever heard in a person and that she would sit in her cell and blaspheme God and cuss Christ and say the most devilish, perverted things from that mouth of hers which was so filthy it was so bad that the other prisoners on death row requested cotton balls to be put in their ears so they wouldn't have to listen to her filthy mouth. But the day came of her execution where she was to be put in the electric chair to be burned up and this prison guard and another guard escorted her down the hallway to that death chamber but with superhuman strength she tore away from them knocked both the guards down and rushed back to her cell. The prison guard said it took four strong men to grab her to carry her down that cell block.

One guard held her arm another guard held her by the other arm a third guard held one of her legs and a fourth guard held her other leg and it took all the strength they could muster to bring that woman down into that electric chair where they strapped her in put a black cloth over her eyes and then pressed a button which burned her up but it took four strong men to cast her into that chair she would not go willingly to her death. Let me tell you friends you won't go willingly to hell you will be cast in there. Listen to this last verse from our passage from Revelation from chapter 20 hear me now and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Every sinner who dies outside the blood of Christ dies without Christ without any refuge from the wrath of God on sin. Every man every woman will be cast into hell by a power stronger than they for they will not go willingly to hell neither will you friend you won't go there willingly you will have to be forcibly cast into that region of darkness and burning flames don't go to hell friend I'm here to warn you do not go there don't go where Lulu went to that prison of darkness. Don't die in your sins unpardoned and outside of the blood of Christ be forever lost in a dark devil's hell listen to the surprise and terror of the sinner who is forcibly sent to hell from Isaiah we read the sinners in Zion are afraid fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings you must get to Christ friend and believe on him for forgiveness of sin Jesus is the only remedy and refuge for sin but you must come to him and believe on him let me tell you about Jesus Jesus the friend of sinners hear me now you've heard of Jesus Jesus came down here to earth so we can go up there I'm sure you've heard of Jesus even when you were a little child I bet you heard of Jesus listen friends Jesus came into this world doing good healing the sick giving sight to the blind feeding the hungry and giving rest to the weary yet what happened wicked men cried away with him and nailed him to a cross first they stripped him down and they beat him they whipped his back until his skin was a quivering mass of bloody flesh then they blindfolded him and slapped his jaw and said prophesy who hit you then they spit in his face one after another then they led him away to a place called Calvary where they drove nails into his hands and feet on his head was a crown of thorns that made his tender forehead bleed his face was so badly beaten it looked like a pound of hamburger meat it was unrecognizable they crucified the son of God and on that cross he became a curse becoming sin for us when all was against him his love flows out to a world of guilty sinners on that cross he prays father forgive them for they know not what they do look at that blessed man on the cross friend look at that blood stained savior from sin as he hangs there with his arms outstretched beckoning you to come to him he calls I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me look at that man on the cross friend hear him say and him that cometh to me I will no wise cast out come to Christ friend and believe on him the cross is the place where wicked men sought to get rid of him but by his death it becomes the place where hope is where his saving power flows out to all hear me now flows out to all who come in repentance confessing they are sinners and own them as their savior and lord your only hope is in Christ Jesus friend outside of him there is no hope Jesus is worth having listen Jesus is the pearl of great price he's worth selling off for so he can be gained come to Christ and believe on him for forgiveness of sin I'm gonna sing a hymn friend and as I sing it if the spirit of God has brought you under conviction of sin if you've been troubled about going to a dark hell by this message and you are weary of your sins and you desire pardon for sin you desire to get into that refuge of Jesus Christ you desire to have that remedy for sin in the person of Jesus Christ I want you to come to Christ Jesus and lay your sin burden down at his now pierced feet come and surrender all to him he held nothing back on that bloody cross how can you hold back anything from him come surrender to the sovereign and own him as your savior and lord if God's been dealing with your soul through this message friend don't delay you come now you come now to Christ and surrender to a living Lord come as I sing all to Jesus I surrender all to him I freely give I will ever love and trust him in his presence daily live I surrender all all I surrender all all to thee my blessed savior I surrender all all to Jesus I surrender humbly at his feet I bow worldly pleasures all forsaken take me Jesus take me now I surrender all all I surrender all all to thee my blessed savior I surrender all all to Jesus I surrender Lord I give myself to thee fill me with thy love and power let thy blessing fall on me I surrender all all I surrender all all to thee my blessed savior I surrender all