Speeding to Hell in Fast Mercedes

Well, I have a message for you tonight, France, that you're not gonna want to miss. I used to be a man, full of the world, and hell-bent on seeking pleasure. I used to drive to work in a black Mercedes, with a shiny Rolex on my wrist.

My suit was Brooks Brothers charcoal gray, and my shoes were expensive Italian loafers. I stayed only at the finest hotels of the world. You could find me at Clearages in London or the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

When I played golf, which I often did, it was at either Pebble Beach or Riviera Country Club. I knew what it was like to sit lazily in a canoe in the Blue Grotto of Capri, and subuso beneath the lazy windmills of Mykonos, Greece. And I did my shopping at Armani's on the Via del Corso in Rome.

I worked hard so I could play hard. I made a lot of money so I could spend a lot of money on myself. I traveled every sun-soaked island I could find.

My toes had been in the white hot sand of Acapulco, to the soft sandy beaches of Barbados, and most everywhere in between. I made a lot of money and I played a lot of golf, and I belonged to several country clubs. Not only that, I was married to a drop-dead gorgeous woman, and we lived in a fine big home out in the country with fine art hanging on the walls.

Listen to me, friends. I was full of myself and full of the world. I guess you could say I had it all.

But my life was empty because I didn't have God in it. God's word says, The soul that sinneth, it shall die. I was full of the world, but on my way to hell, I was a lost man, traveling in the fast lane, speeding down the highway of life in a fast Mercedes, on my way to hell.

And that's the title of my message tonight, friends, speeding to hell in a fast Mercedes. My Bible says in Ecclesiastes, One generation passes away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth forever. When I was a young man, I determined to see as much of the world as I could, and to enjoy as much of the pleasures of the world as I could.

But I soon found out, as King Solomon had to find out, that all was vanity, and that God requires that which is past. My philosophy of life was eat, drink, and be merry, but I was completely empty on the inside. Maybe some of you know what I'm talking about.

There was a hole in my life that only God could fill, but it took me years to find that out, friends. Oh, friends, the wasted years I spent chasing after the things of this world, shiny things that turned out to be only empty bubbles. I was like most men, full of ambition, content to live a purely selfish life, tasting the moment, gliding down the stream of time to the roaring cataract of death.

I knew nothing about a holy God or a bleeding savior for sin. All during this time, I was a good church member. I always seemed to find time to go to some kind of church, but I was religiously lost.

I believe it's natural for men to be religious. Even the devil is religious, and he does his best work through some religious institutions. But all the while, I chased after the world.

God was chasing after me. I had Christians praying for my salvation. Do you know, friend, if anyone you know has been praying for your salvation, if you're saved, you can be assured somewhere, sometime, someone was praying for you.

I believe that. I believe God answers prayer. I believe God is true to his word, and I believe God honors his son.

Maybe there is someone here tonight who was chasing the world, chasing the wind, rather, while God is chasing you. I wonder if there is someone within the sound of my voice. Hear me now! Someone within the sound of my voice who is tired of chasing the emptiness of this world.

I wonder if someone can relate to this message tonight and be turned from the world to Christ the Redeemer. I wonder if someone here is in the fast lane on the highway to hell. Hell is a terrible place, friend.

You don't want to go to hell. Hell is a prison from which there's no escape, and it's crowded in hell with the worst elements of society from every generation going all the way back to Adam. Serial killers are in hell, as well as sociopaths.

Demons are in hell, and it's pitch dark in there. Hell is described as outer darkness. It's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face.

Hell is a bottomless pit of smoke and misery where the worm never dies, meaning it's forever and ever. Hell is a furnace of affliction and a furnace of fire. Believe me, friend, when I say you don't want to go to hell.

If the eternal world was open to your eyes and hell opened before you, what your eyes would behold would so terrify you that you'd never be the same. Sin would lose its attractiveness. The damned in hell cry out in misery.

At this moment, they wail and shriek in those tormenting flames. When I was chasing the world as a rich man, I was once asked by a Christian lady if I knew I'd go to heaven when I died. All I could say was, I hope so.

All I had was a hope, but my hope of heaven was nothing more than a hole in the wall. I was trying to climb to heaven by good opinion of myself, but I was only clinging to a rope of sand. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Jesus is the only remedy for sin, friend, but I had to find that out the hard way. I had to find out I was sick with sin.

And do you know what, friend? You are sick with sin too. It's in your nature. You are born with a depraved nature and a bent toward sin.

Because of Adam's fall in the garden, a man enters this world with a ruined nature. That's only enmity against God. I was running away from God, but God was running after me.

His bloodhound from heaven, His Spirit kept reproving me. A reproof is anytime you hear a sermon, anytime someone hands you a gospel tract, anytime someone speaks to you about your soul. Those are all reproofs.

God sends our way, but when they come our way, friends, they come with dire responsibilities. Because if we keep ignoring those reproofs, then God has this to say about what can happen to us. In Proverbs we read, He that being often reproved hoarden at his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

That means sudden death, dying without the remedy for sin in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's exactly where I was, friends, in my fast Mercedes, speeding down the highway of life toward a Christless eternity. But one day, friend, I quit running from God and ran toward God for salvation from sin.

You can only run so long and so far before you run out of gas, before it's time to die and leave this world for another world. Whether it's heaven or hell, don't go to hell, friend. Jesus is your only hope of heaven.

Let me tell you about Jesus. Jesus stepped out of the glories of heaven to come down here so we can go up there. He was born of a woman and lived as a man, but he was both God and man.

He came to earth doing good, healing the sick. I'm sure you've heard of him, how he gave sight to the blind, he fed the hungry, and gave rest to the weary. Yet what happened? Wicked men cried, away with him, and nailed him to a cross.

First they beat him, stripped him, whipped him, they mocked him, and put a crown of thorns on his head and bowed to him. Then they blindfolded him and slapped his jaw, saying, Prophesy, who hit thee? Then they led him away to a hill called Calvary. And there they fastened him, that innocent lamb, they fastened him to that ignoble cross.

Christ on the cross was justice satisfied in that God must punish sin. Christ became sin as he bore the curse on that bloody tree. Every stroke of the Roman's hammer was an explanation point that cried, Christ on the cross prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

When all was against him, his love flowed out to a world of guilty sinners. Look at that blessed man on the cross, friend. Look at that man on the cross as he hangs there, his arms outstretched with blood dripping from his hands.

He loved me and gave himself for me. Look at that man on the cross, friend. The cross is the place where men sought to get rid of him.

But by his death it becomes the place where a 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. In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.

Look at that bloodstained Savior from sin as he cries, 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. Are you thirsty for Christ, friend? Come to Christ and lay your sin burden down.

Maybe you are like me, full of the pleasures of this world, but empty on the inside. Maybe you know what it's like to be empty on the inside and weary of sin, living selfishly unto yourself. As you rush through life, speeding your way to a devil's hell, this world is an empty bubble that will soon pop.

Your life will be over. And where will you go? Where will your soul go? You are an eternity bound person. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy.

Look to Christ, friend, and come to Christ for salvation from sin. He alone can save you, but He can't save even you. God says in Isaiah, Look unto Me and be ye saved.

All the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. Well, I'm going to sing a hymn, friend, and as I sing it, if God's been dealing with you in this message, then don't delay. Come to Him, seeking pardon for sin.

Don't give this world one more piece of your life, friend. Come give your life to Christ. You must come to Jesus to get under His blood.

His blood can wash away all sin. He has power to save you and set you free. Come, as I sing.

Dear Jesus, all my sins forgave and washed and made me whole. I have sweet peace and joy within. His blood is on my soul.

The tempter cannot overcome or gain the least control. I have God's everlasting seal. His blood is on my soul.

His blood is on my soul, my soul. His blood is on my soul. I rest securely in His hand.

His blood is on my soul. I have His spirit now within. My life's in His control.

I'm ready for the crowning day. His blood is on my soul. I am determined by His grace to reach bright heaven's goal and reign with Jesus on His throne.

His blood is on my soul. His blood is on my soul, my soul. His blood is on my soul.

I rest securely in His hand. His blood is on my soul.