Going Downhill Fast

Going Downhill Fast (into the lake of fire)

Matthew 8:28 – 32

Ever try running straight down a really steep hill? – you get to a point where you can’t stop – unless someone can catch you and hang onto you! That person has to be a lot bigger and stronger than you, and he has to be anchored very well, or he’ll go with you.

Spurgeon said: If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.

Matt. 8:28 – 32

What a picture of fallen humanity! Since the first man, the human race has been going downhill fast, right into the lake of fire. Just like the pigs, the natural man is driven by demons and the devil’s own ambition to be the one on the throne.

Unless someone bigger, stronger, and better anchored than you constantly held you back, you’d have already run headlong into the lake of fire!

God’s love is what has held you back.

Until you’re saved, you are a sinner held back by the hands of God. God is holding you back from hell and the lake of fire because he loves you!

I. God Hates Sin

  1. God is NOT a vengeful, nasty, vicious, hateful god who is angry with the human race and just wants to destroy us!

  2. But God hates sin. He will not tolerate sin forever. Just as Jesus suddenly appeared to the devils that had dared to possess these two men created in the image of God, the Lord will appear suddenly to end the corruption sin has caused in this fallen world. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10

  3. God is angry with sin! His wrath is poured out on all sin! God created hell and the lake of fire for the devil and his angels, not for you! Why would you choose to go with them?

II. A Lake of Fire

  1. The devils pleaded not to go to their fiery end, but to be cast into a herd of pigs. Those pigs, immediately driven mad as these two poor men had been, raced down the hill into the Sea of Tiberius, bringing the pigs to a cold and tragic end. But the Bible says that a fiery lake is the final end for those devils and all who stand on their side, “ And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Revelation 19:20; “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:10; “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14,15

III. Going Downhill Fast

  1. Without Christ, everyone is going downhill fast, straight into the lake of fire. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

    1. Remember, we already read it: “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.” The wages of sin is death. But that’s not where that verse ends…

IV. God’s Great Gift

  1. God’s loves you, so He keeps hanging on to you, even when you’re struggling and squirming, trying to keep on running headlong into that great fiery lake along with the rest of the herd. God doesn’t want you to go into that fire! “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, 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…?” Ezekiel 33:11

    1. God was speaking to the house of Israel in that verse, but such is God’s character and care for all mankind. Why would you die and go to hell, when there is no need to? Turn from your wicked ways and live!

V. God Deniers

  1. Scoffers scoff and say there IS no God or that God is dead, because He doesn’t do anything about the mess in this world, and everything just keeps on going the way it always has. The Bible says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.” Psalm 53:1

  2. Scoffers may scoff, but denying the reality of God doesn’t make Him go away! That slope is still there, the devil is still there, everyone is still going downhill fast into the fire!

    1. If you’re hearing this, today, and you still haven’t put your faith in Jesus Christ, it’s because God hasn’t let go of you yet. The Bible says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us–ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 God doesn’t want you in that lake of fire; He wants you to repent so that he can love you for eternity and you can be his own child for eternity!

VI. Trusting Devils

  1. If you’re not saved, today, you’re trusting devils, just like the ones Jesus sent into that herd of pigs. Where do your God-rejecting thoughts come from?

    1. It’s the devils you’ve let in and the devils you trust that keep you on that horrible descent!

  2. Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44

    1. Like father, like son (or daughter). You’re born in this world, you’re part of this world, and your spiritual father is the devil! Unless you turn and put your faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living and loving God, you have a father who HATES you and wants to KILL you!

      1. The Bible says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8 His only goal is to destroy you and send you along with the rest of Godless, foolish humanity, headlong down that steeply slanting slope into the lake of fire!

      2. Everyone still rejecting God’s gift of salvation is going downhill fast into the lake of fire. God will eventually let go. They will go into the lake of fire. These are the whosoever the Bible speaks of in Rev. 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

VII. But There’s Good News

  1. We have a Saviour, who is Jesus Christ! He is God the Son. God cannot be knocked over by the devil or even an army of devils! God holds onto you and offers you the greatest gift ever given, complete freedom from sin and guilt, and eternal life.

    1. Everyone without Christ is going downhill fast and gaining speed as time goes by.

    2. But there is a wonderful, powerful, perfect and simple answer.

    3. God loves you and doesn’t want you to perish. He has held you back from going straight into that fire so that you can repent, or turn to Him, and trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour.

      1. The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23 That means we’re all included.

      2. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death;” Romans 6:23

      3. You can’t escape it! The Bible says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12 All means all!

      4. All have sinned, so all are under the death sentence. That death sentence means conscious separation from God in the lake of fire for eternity!

  2. The good news is, Romans 6:23 continues, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

Conclusion

You do not need to go any further toward that lake of fire! If you’re hearing this today and are still not saved, recognize it’s only because God is holding you back. He wants you to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who took all your sin on Himself, died in your place, was separated from God in your place, and went down into the grave in your place. Only because He really is the Son of God was He able to take up His life again and rise from the dead, having perfectly paid the whole penalty that you owed for your sin for you! You no longer need to keep chasing your sins into the lake of fire! They’re all paid for. Only you must accept that gift and trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour. If you haven’t done that already, now is the time. Do it now.