Hope of Hypocrite Hole in Wall

Well, I'm glad to be here tonight, friends, and I have a serious and solemn message to bring before you. I didn't come here to entertain you, but to warn you. Um, some of you already have one foot in hell, and the other's on a patch of ice.

Some of you, back yonder, made some kind of profession, and you joined a church, and you thought there was salvation. You've been asleep behind the wheel of a car in sin that went out of control a long time ago. And it's only the grace of God that has kept God from killing you and sending you to hell.

You get a little closer to hell every day. Every day, more and more sins stack up on that garbage pile you've been dragging along with you ever since you had any sense. You even have a sense that you're a Christian because the devil gave you a little emotion a long time ago.

You know, he can give you a false peace. You think you got it all figured out, and you reformed yourself a little bit. You even think you're God's favorite.

But let me tell you, friend, God is no respecter of persons. And no matter how religious you have made yourself, you are rotten through and through with the stain of sin. If you've never been born from above and washed in the blood, and when you die, you'll bust hell wide open.

In the book of Job, there's a dead-on description of some of you I've been talking about. You listen to me, friend. Job 27, verse 8 declares, For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? The title of my message this evening, friends, is, The Hope of the Hypocrite is a Hole in the Wall.

I used to live in the South, and one thing that's certain about that part of the country is that it's filled with snakes. Copperheads, rattlesnakes, water moccasins, kingsnakes. I used to live out in the country, smack dab in the middle of a forest.

And every year, I had to go out and kill snakes on my property, as they were a constant threat to my family and dog. I'd take a shovel in one hand, and a can of gasoline in the other. And I'd put on my big boots, and I'd go out in the rock bed in front of my house, and I'd pour gasoline on those rocks.

And then I'd watch those vipers slither out as fast as they could. When they would emerge, I would hit them on the head with that shovel. One time, I hit a baby copperhead on the head, and he spit venom in my eye.

But luckily, I had on my glasses, and that saved me. Those snakes could get pretty big, but there was one snake I'd always leave alone. He was a big black kingsnake that lived in a hole in my wooden retaining wall.

Kingsnakes are famous for eating other snakes, and they love to eat copperheads. And my property was full of copperheads, so I'd always leave that big black kingsnake alone. I'd watch them drop out of that hole in the wall, but I'd leave them alone.

I had a man doing some repair work on their retaining wall one time. He didn't know about that snake, and he stuck his hand up in that hole. Now, kingsnakes are non-venomous, but I still wouldn't want to be bit by one.

But I mention all this to you, friends, because the hope of the hypocrite is like that hole in that retaining wall. You don't know what's in there, because it's dangerous. God's word declares, for what is the hope of the hypocrite? That's a question God asks.

What is his hope? Why, it's a false hope. A false hope of heaven. But they think they have a hope of heaven, because they did some physical act back yonder in a meeting.

They responded to an emotional appeal by an evangelist, and somebody told them they were now a Christian. But God never did. It's a false hope, like a hole in the wall.

There's nothing backing it up. But our text says the hypocrite mistakes something for gain, for profit, though he hath gained, it says. The hypocrite thinks he's gained heaven, but he or she is dead wrong, for God takes away their soul.

He takes their soul away from his presence when they die, to be cast into the darkness of hell. That's when fear gets hold of a hypocrite, and their knees begin to tremble, and the blood drains out of their face, when they realize they missed heaven. They had a hope of heaven.

There was only a hole in the wall. In Isaiah, we read about this. The sinners in Zion are afraid.

Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites, who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire, who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings. The reason I started this message this evening, friends, by saying I didn't come here to entertain you, but to warn you, is because some of you are in great danger. If you're a lost religious person, you are in danger of hellfire.

You are in great peril, as you listen to me now, because you live beneath the condemnation of a broken law and a holy God. You've never heard the gospel before in your life, so you better hear it now, friends. You are stained by sin, and that stain will go with you into eternity, as you face the judge of all the earth, when you stand at the judgment bar of God, and he sees that stain of sin.

That stain of sin is the evidence which will convict you, it will condemn you of breaking his law. Listen, friend, I know I am a sinner, and I need a substitute for sin in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and so do you, friend, so do you. The old hymn says, What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

I know about how a stain can come on to something, and you can't get rid of it. I was preaching one time down in a church in the state of Mississippi, and after the morning service they had, as was customary down south, a big smorgasbord in the fellowship hall for the visiting preacher, well, I like hot dogs, and I loaded my plate with some hot dogs, and I like mustard on my hot dogs, so I lathered my plate up with mustard, and I took my seat at a picnic table with an elderly deacon and his wife. I wondered why they stared at me so, until I looked down, and I saw a big yellow mustard stain on my new blue suit.

The deacon shook his head and said, Well, at least we know now you were human. But that stain wouldn't come off my new suit, even after I took it to the cleaners. That mustard stain never came off that suit.

There was always, always a green hue on that suit, and sin is like that, friend. Once it stains, it's always there. That stain of sin will follow you into eternity.

When you die, it will condemn you. It will condemn you to a devil's hell. When we sin, we break the law of God, and the sentence of the law must be carried out upon all guilty sinners.

The blood of Christ is the only thing that can wash away the stain of sin. Listen to me, friend. Jesus was nailed up on a bloody cross for sin.

On Calvary, he bore the curse, becoming sin for us. I get saved when Christ's life is laid down, and his merits and blood are applied to me. Then God can look at this big sinner of a preacher and say, When I see the blood, when I see the blood.

But if you've missed repentance and faith, then you've missed Christ, and you've missed heaven, and you will go to hell if you have not repented of your sins. You must get under his blood. Our text says the hope of the hypocrite is that he thinks he gains something when he really ends up losing his soul.

God takes his soul away, and down to hell he goes. Like that hole in the wall of my retaining wall. All that was in there was a big black snake.

Satan is the old serpent that deceived Adam and Eve into thinking they would be like God if they disobeyed God and sinned. Well, Satan is a liar, a murderer, and a thief. And he will deceive you.

He can give you a false peace that is not salvation. If you're not saved, friend, you're in great danger of dying in your sins and being shut up in that prison of perdition where the worm doth not and the fire never burns out. I know what I'm talking about, friends, for I was a lost church member for years.

I was a big shot at my church, but my hope of heaven was only a hole in the wall. Get to Christ, friend, for forgiveness of sin. Come with me now.

Come with me, friend, in your mind, to a hill far away. Walk with me as we take a good look at Calvary. Look up on that hill.

See that cross? Look at that man on the cross. Do you see him hanging there, his arms outstretched, beckoning you, the nails driven into his innocent hands and feet? He wears a crown of thorns atop his noble head. Look at him as he writhes and wiggles in excruciating pain.

He cries, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Jesus is the friend of sinners. He died so we can live.

Look at that man on the cross, friend. Look at that bloodstained Savior from sin. He says, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Let me ask you, friend, are you thirsty for Christ? Are you weary of your sins? Then come to him and believe on him for forgiveness of sins. He invites poor sinners to come to him.

Jesus has a promise to all who come in repentance, confessing they are sinners and own him as Savior and Lord, he says, and him that cometh unto me. I will in no wise cast doubt. You can be the biggest sinner in this town tonight, friend, and come to him and he will save you.

I'm going to sing a hymn, friend. And as I sing, I want you to come to Christ and lay your sin burden down at his nail-pierced feet. He died a bloody cruel death for sin, but you must get your sins washed in his blood.

Come in repentance, friend, and own him as your Savior and Lord. If God's been dealing with your soul through this message, if the Spirit of God's been striving with you, troubling you, don't delay. You stick your pride in your pocket and you come to this blessed Savior from sin.

Jesus is the only remedy and refuge for sin. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.

The duty required is to come to him and believe on him. You come as I sing. Would you be free from the burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you war evil or victory to win? There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Sin's stains are lost in its life-giving flow. There's wonderful power in the blood.

There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the precious blood of the Lamb.