Hellfire & Brimstone

By Hilton Sutton, Th.D.
The Psalmist wrote, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments. His praise endureth forever,” Ps. 111:10.

Once upon a time, the fear of God was so widespread, that even the unrighteous were somewhat restricted. Everyone, godly or ungodly, had an awareness of God and knew that someday they would be judged by Him. Such biblical truth was well known among we Americans.

Why was the “fear of God” so effective in previous generations but not today? The answer is simple: the preaching of “Hellfire and brimstone.” Sin and its eternal results were favorite subjects of men of God at the turn of the 1900’s and into the 1940’s.

The late Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), one of the greatest British preachers of his time, joined the Baptist Church in 1850. His rich, clear voice and command of language drew large crowds. He possessed strict and narrow religious ideas, which sometimes alienated others. The Metropolitan Tabernacle, with 6,000 seats, was built for his huge audiences. He was the son of an Independent preacher.

On one occasion, he preached a masterpiece that many today would classify as a “Hellfire and brimstone” sermon. One of his illustrations was: “All unsaved mankind hang by a small thread of life over the pit of Hell. Satan walks around the edge with a pair of snips (scissors) in his hand and gleefully cuts the thread. The doomed fall screaming into Hell’s fire.”

John Smith, an evangelist of the Assemblies of God, was better known as “Hellfire Smith.” On the occasion of an Easter Sunday the pastor of the church, where John Smith was beginning a week of services, leaned over and said to John, “My people love to hear messages on the love of God.” John replied, “That’s exactly my subject this morning. I’m speaking on Love.”

When the pastor introduced him, John announced his text. He read, “And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,” John 3:19.

I must confess, I also preached a few sermons classified as “Hellfire and brimstone.” I make no apologies as the message brought men and women to their senses and they realized Hell was real. They also knew their lifestyle had them headed in the wrong direction.

Today, there are many seniors serving God whose lives were changed because a preacher had HOLY GHOST BOLDNESS and anointing enough to confront the ungodly and the social sinner. Presently such messages are unpopular and very seldom heard. CONSEQUENTLY, there is no fear of God among the sinful and little to be found among the Christians.

As you know, the majority of the Christian community in our nation lives only a partial Christian life. All too often, Christians talk like the worldly and behave themselves with manners and dress that neither glorifies God nor identifies them as true followers of our Lord Jesus.

We must not lose sight of biblical truth; there is a fiery, tormenting place called Hell. The words of Jesus found in Luke 16:19-31 establish this truth. Look up the word ‘hell’ in a good Bible concordance and read every reference, especially
2 Peter 2:4-11.

Let me remind you, it is not easy to go to Hell. Proverb 13:15 states, “The way of the TRANGRESSORS is HARD.” The Holy Spirit, who causes loving conviction works overtime to keep a person from going to Hell.

However, if one is determined to live a carnal life, giving into the lust of the flesh, they remain disobedient and on the broad path to Hell. Examine Ephesians 2:1-3.

Hell is an absolutely horrible place. A place of fiery torment, memory and eventually a state of always dying in the Lake of Fire; one is forever dying in non-consuming fire.

These Bible truths can be a source for the fear of the Lord. God sends no one to Hell. He works through Holy Spirit conviction and the preaching of the goodness of God to bring mankind to repentance.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Without such godly fear one lacks the wisdom necessary for abundant life. Therefore, one makes choices that will send themselves to Hell.

If ever there existed a generation that needs a good dose of “Hellfire and brimstone” preaching, it is this present one. It is also time for every born again person to live like a Christian and talk like a Christian. We do have godly guidelines, such as: