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.