Running in Herds to Hell

I reckon most folks want to go to heaven when they die, even though they're runnin' in herds to hell. That Broadway that the world runs on is very accommodating to herds. In fact, there are all kinds of herds runnin' on that road at this very moment, runnin' and kickin' up dust while they're raisin' hell.

Most folks are in a mad rush to make a name for themselves, grab as much money as they can for themselves, and gratify themselves as much as they can with this world, and then go on to hell when they are done. The title of my message today, friends, is, Runnin' in Herds to Hell, and my text can be found in Matthew's Gospel, in Chapter 8. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in verses 28 through 32.

Let me read us a striking passage of Scripture at this time. And when he was come to the other side, into the country of the Jerusalems, there met him to possess with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fear, so that no man might pass that way. Let me pause here, friends, to say, I believe that's true, because I've seen it for myself.

At Bridge Street Cemetery, in Northampton, Massachusetts, there lives a demon spirit among the tombs. I have been to the grave of David Brainerd numerous times throughout the years, and every time I visit that cemetery, I encounter the same demon spirit. It is a laughing spirit, a mocking spirit, about a hundred yards behind Brainerd's grave.

The first time I heard it, I walked over to the sound of it, and nothing was there. When I walked away, it began laughing once more. No matter what time of year, year after year, I encountered that bodiless demon among those ancient tombs.

I told a fellow evangelist about it before we traveled there together, and at first he was skeptical, but when he heard that same eerie voice himself, he wanted out of that cemetery as fast as he could. So here in our text we have two possessed with devils among the tombs, and Jesus confronts them. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? Let me pause here again, friends, to say, that the devils know where they are heading, and that a future judgment awaits them, if only we could convince men of the same.

And there was a good way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go.

And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine, and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. I will stop there. What a terrible picture of lost humanity this is—men and women, and boys and girls, running in herds, crawling over each other's back in a mad rush to destruction and perdition.

There are several herds running to hell right now, friends. I'm going to list six of them today, which run along the road to hell. Number one.

There is the herd of unbelief. People in this herd don't believe in God, and they don't believe in hell. They are filled with atheism and unbelief, and the herd they run in runs down a steep cliff, just like those pigs in the water that ran to their destruction.

Number two. There is the herd of self-pleasure. People in this herd are into self-gratification, and it doesn't make a hill of beans difference if they are outside the church or in it as the chairman of the deacons.

Self is king in their lives, and self must have its way. This herd of self-pleasure will run over anyone who gets in its way. The crowd of men outside the door of Lot and Sodom represents this crowd today, filled with lust, and blind to God, and determined to have its way.

Number three. There is the herd of religion. Whether you are a Buddhist, or a Muslim, or a Mormon, or some other religion, people in this herd wrap themselves in the garments of their religion, and feel they are immune to suffering in a place called hell, because they are religious.

All the world religions run in this herd. That is jam-packed on its way to hell. Number four.

There is a herd of ignorance. People running in this herd are ignorant of their danger, of downing their sins. They are ignorant of a future judgment that awaits all mankind, and they are ignorant of the strictness and severity of the law of God by which they will be judged.

They run along in blind ignorance together, like those herd of swine dashing down that steep cliff to be drowned in the sea. These are people consumed with their careers or business, focused on the accumulation of this world's goods. They are like the rich man in the parable of building bigger barns to store his vast goods, who was rich in the things of this world, but not rich toward God.

This herd will dine their ignorance to spiritual truths and to the reality of eternity. Number five. There is a herd of prestige.

People running in this herd seek a name for themselves. They seek the honor of men. They want to leave their mark on this world when they are gone out of it, and leaving their mark is the symbol of their prestige.

I used to run in a herd of the country club set, which was comprised of many society blue bloods, who were consumed with the opinions of others toward them. Their family name meant everything to them, as they came from a long line of blue bloods. Listen to me, friends.

There's nothing wrong with being a blue blood, so long as you get under the blood of the slain lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ. But to run in a herd only, to be part of that envied herd, is certain destruction and a devil's hell.

Lastly, number six. There is the herd of the holy huddle. The Pharisees and the scribes ran in this herd in third day.

The self-righteous people who run in this herd run inside the doors of a church. They serve on deacon committees, sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, or do something in some other capacity. The folks in this herd have been baptized, and they've joined the church, believing that church membership is salvation.

Somewhere down the road, they made a profession of faith and decided to become a Christian. They look good on the outside, but they have merely reformed themselves enough to pass muster at church on Sunday. The folks that run in this herd maintain a good opinion of themselves, but they have never experienced change from a work of grace that God performs on the heart in regeneration.

Although they are baptized individuals, and they run in a holy herd at church with their church friends, they are not born from above nor washed in the blood. This herd comprises a good majority of our church membership today. Although each of these six herds differ somewhat from the others, they still kick up the dust and comprise one larger herd running to hell.

Let me ask you, friend, what herd do you run in? Let us pray.