Isaiah 28:15-18, "Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."

Introduction:

A. "In Zion" is often, in Scriptures, a Name For The Church on earth.

1. Many are At Ease in Zion (The Church).

2. They Prosper in this world.

3. They Put Far Away the evil day (day of judgment).

4. "They are Not Grieved for the afflictions of Joseph (for their own children).

B. They have made a Covenant With Death, and With Hell Are They At Agreement"

1. They are making Lies Their Refuge, and Are Hiding Under Falsehoods"

2. Like an Ostrich hiding his head in the sand --- we think God's judgment Will Go Away.

C. Your Agreement With Hell --- is a sad thing indeed.

How Are We In Agreement With Hell?

I. Hell Wants You Pre-Occupied With Worldly Things.

A. Spiritual Things ought to get our First and Best and Continuous attention.

Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

(( School activities --- sports --- etc. ))

B. The Careless are Only Concerned With Today.

Luke 17:27, "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all."

C. The householder Relaxes His Watchfulness and loses his family.

Matthew 24:43, "But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up."

Luke 16:27, "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment."

D. The Wise virgins as well as the Foolish sleep.

Matthew 25:5, "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."

E. Hell wants you Pre-Occupied --- Are you In Agreement?

II. Hell Want You Blinded Spiritually.

A. The Natural man is Blind To Spiritual Things.

1. I Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned."

2. They see neither --- What Has Been --- What Is --- nor What Is To Come.

3. Romans 8:7, "Because the carnal mind <is> enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

B. The Child of God can also be blind.

II Peter 1:9, "But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."

1. Also, they do not see the value of serving God --- School activities --- sports --- etc. are more important.

2. Do You See Your Friends As Lost? --- Adamic Nature.

C. Hell wants you Blind To Spiritual Values --- Are you In Agreement?

III. Hell Wants You Presumptuous (proud, self-confident).

A. We are Secure In Sin --- We do not adequately realize sin as to either its Guilt or its Danger. --- T.V.

1. We are Self-Confident that we can handle it ...

2. We live in it calmly and without changing, as if it were the Normal Thing.

3. We anticipate No Evil and No Disturbance.

4. Isaiah 28:15, "Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:"

B. Some are Secure In Morality.

1. They trust in the Arm of The Flesh.

Jeremiah 17:5, "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."

2. We persuade ourselves that We Are But Little To Blame --- we're O.K.

3. We are Proud, Self-Confidnet, and Presumptuous that the coming judgment is Provoked By, And Meant For, Others.

C. Some are Secure In Ordinances.

1. They locate spiritual power in the church.

2. Regeneration to them, means a Sprinkled Face.

3. Justification to them, means a Elevated Host.

4. Sanctification to them, means an Exhaustive Observance of The Ordinances.

D. Barbara Hall --- West Memphis, Ark.

E. Hell wants you Proud & Self-Confident In Your Religion --- Are you In Agreement?

IV. Hell Wants You To live with Un-Varying Prosperity.

A. As life has been, so some assume that It Will Continue.

B. Hell wants you Prospering and Not Needing God --- Are you in Agreement?

V. Hell Wants You To Fellowship With the Ungodly.

A. Familiarity With Sin Breeds Tolerance of It.

1. Sex Education --- Increased Pregnancy .....

2. A Sinful Example is a Temptation To Sin.

3. Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"

B. Proverbs 18:24, "A man [that hath] friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend [that] sticketh closer than a brother."

1. Prov. 18:24 (RV), "He that maketh many friends, doeth it to his own destruction."

2. Ryrie --- "A man of (too many) friends will be broken in pieces."

3. Luke 6:26, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

4. James 4:4, ".. know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

C. Are you in Agreement With Hell --- concerning Your Friends!

Travis Case
Tearing Down Walls & Building Bridges