MATT.7:13-14 "WHO GOES TO HELL AND HOW TO MISS IT"
INTRO: Do many people go to hell? * Yes! Jesus teaches that there are far more people who die
unsaved and go to hell than there are Christians who go to heaven! (Look at our text)
* The gate to hell is wide and the road to hell is broad and many go in thereat.
* The gate to life is strait, that is, it is tight, and the way is narrow and Jesus says:
* "There are few that find it." * Most people then are going to hell!
* One who reads this scripture and hears this message ought to be more alarmed and make the
more certain that he does not go to hell unaware! * Note some things about hell today:
(1) YOU’LL BE SURPRISED TO WAKE UP IN HELL!
* You may be sure that most of the people in hell did not expect to go there!
* Certainly the rich man in Luke 16:19-31 didn’t!
A) He thought Lazarus ought still to be his servant. * He was startled to find himself in flames!
* In vs.22-23, Jesus told about some who expect to be saved, but who will be condemned!
B) Many places in the Bible tell where tares are mixed with the wheat, where good fish are with
the bad, where lost people mix themselves with Christians and even deceive themselves.
C) The Pharisee who went into the temple to pray (Lk.18) thanking God that he was better
than the publican was doubtless surprised when he went to hell.
* He thought he was good. * Did he not fast 2 days a week? * Was not he a leader in public
prayer? * Was he not a church goer? * Was he not an honest man, paying all his debts?
* He even tithed all his income, as he reminded the Lord.
D) Yet, he was a lost sinner! * And unless he repented before he died, he’s in hell right now!
* It’s very clear, then, that God’s word teaches that multitudes go to hell who did not expect
to go there! * Friends, I beg you, don’t let yourselves be deceived by Satan!
* Do not face the terrible surprise of waking up in hell!
(2) UNSAVED PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS WICKED! * They can’t escape hell without a change!
* Men are not willing to accept that, but the Bible constantly affirms that it is so!
A) The wife may believe that her lost husband is "such a good man," but God sees his heart,
* and says in Jer.17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately ........"
B) The father and mother may speak of their "dear innocent children." * Many mothers told me
about their children: "Preacher, my children has never done anything wrong in their life."
* That contradicts God’s Word! Rom.3:10 "As it is written, there is none righteous......."
* Isa.53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his........"
C) The rich man in Lk.16 deserved to go to hell because he was a sinner!
* Outwardly he may have been a moral, upright, intelligent, and lovable man,
* But in his heart where God alone could see, he was a deliberate, willful, continual, unrepentant
sinner!
D) Remember; those who condemned Christ to be crucified were educated, religious, praying
men! * They were wolves in sheep’s clothing! * What Jesus said in Matt.23:27-28,
* perfectly describes the heart of the best moral man that ever lived who has not trusted Christ.
E) Those who have not had a change of heart may appear to us moral, clean, or good,
* But only so outwardly! * It was for this reason that Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3,
* "Ye must be born again to see the kingdom of God."
(3) LOST MEN LOVE DARKNESS, HATE LIGHT; CHOOSE SIN; REJECTS CHRIST!
* Jesus gave a clear picture of why sinners must turn and believe in Christ or be forever con-
demned in Jn.3:19-20 "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the ..........."
A) The only honest reason any man could ever give for not coming to Jesus is that he loves his
sin and will not come to Christ, the Light, lest his sin be reproved!
B) The lost man’s heart is wicked, wicked enough to hate Christ! * Men reject Christ purposely,
loving sin! * Without being converted, such wicked sinners must go to hell! * If men go to heaven, it’s because they’ve repented and God gave them a new heart!
(4) MORAL PEOPLE GO TO HELL! * Jesus didn’t say that the morals of the rich man were
worse than others. * All He said about the rich man’s life on earth is this:
A) Lk.16:19 "There was a certain rich man ......." * That verse doesn’t say he was any more
covetous than others, or committed adultery, murder, gambled, drank or swore.
B) His trouble was inside! * Like unsaved people everywhere, he had a wicked heart!
* In his heart he was against God! * Men by the thousands go to hell who,
* outwardly are moral and upright! * WHY?
(5) IN HELL BECAUSE HE DID NOT REPENT! * The rich man knew why he went to hell!
* He pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus to testify to his 5 brothers, "lest they come ...."
A) In his conversation, he said, "if one went to them from the dead, they’d repent."
* He knew that if they was gonna miss hell, they would have to repent!
B) What was true of this man and his brothers, is true of every man! Lk.13:3;5 "Except..."
* It is repent or perish for every sinner in the world! * Sinners must turn or burn!
(6) HOW MAY I REPENT? * Repentance means to change mind and heart!
* Turn from sin to Christ! * To repent includes trusting Christ as Savior and Lord!
A) You could not truly turn from sin in the heart without trusting Him.
* The rich man had a wicked heart and he loved his sin and did not turn from it to Christ!
B) Everyone who hears me, may be sure, if you have not repented, trusting Him to change
your heart; forgiving your sins, you are condemned to hell!
* Turn today, before you find yourself where the rich man is, tormented in flames!
(7) LAST IN CLOSING: YOU NEED NOT BE LOST! * If you’re lost. it’s your own fault.
* My own heart has been deeply stirred and burdened as I have talked to you about hell.
A) But one blessed fact remains - nobody has to go to hell! * NOBODY!
* God is concerned about you and He don’t want a single soul lost!
* Jn.3:17 "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that ......"
* 2 Pt.3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men ........."
B) The cry of God, not only to Israel, but to all mankind is in Eze.33:11 "Say unto them, as I
live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn
from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house
of Israel?"
C) The blood that Jesus shed calls sinners to repent! * His tears He shed over Jerusalem
showed His love for all mankind.
* His brokenhearted cry on the cross, "Father, forgive them....." shows God’s heart toward
sinners! * Sinner friend, you need not go to hell! * God wants you saved!
* God’s love means more than we realize what He paid to keep us out of hell!
D) WHY WILL YE DIE?
