The Man Who Kissed Heaven's Door And Went To Hell

Introduction

John 6:70-71

I want you to take God’s Word, and I want you to turn with me, please, this morning, to John chapter 6, and we’re going to look in verses 70 and 71. I suppose almost as beautiful as the music we’ve heard from the choirs and the soloists is the turning of those pages as you’re finding God’s Word. You’ll always get so much more from any message if you keep your Bible open there in your hand.

John chapter 6, verse 70: “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve” (John 6:70–71).

Many years ago, a woman gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. And, if she was a normal mother - and I believe she was - she cuddled that child in her arms, she nestled that baby boy next to her cheek, she spoke baby talk to him, she caressed him and cared for him, nursed him and loved him. He was precious to her. She selected a name for him: she called him Judas. That was the name of that little baby. But, you know, today, mothers don’t name their little boys Judas; they name them Peter, and James, and Paul, and Matthew, and Timothy, and Zechariah, and Amos. But, I’ve never heard of a little boy named Judas. I’ve heard of a dog named Judas and a goat named Judas, but never a little boy named Judas. Why? It was Judas who betrayed the Lord Jesus. And, you remember that night. Dark was that night. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was praying before His crucifixion. It was that great moment of ultimate surrender to the cross and the humiliation of the cross. He was in such agony. The Bible tells us that the minute capillaries in his skin ruptured, and his sweat became drops of blood (Luke 22:44). He’s in agony. It’s quiet in the garden. The city is asleep, and the disciples are sleeping. There’s little noise except perhaps the whisper of the wind in the olive trees, the chirping of the crickets. But, suddenly we’re aware of another sound: there are footsteps, muffled voices. Then, we see torches that are glaring, and those torches reveal the expression on the faces of the crafty priest and Pharisees, whose hearts burn with hate toward the Lord Jesus.

Soldiers are there, and we hear the clanking of the armor as they surround the Lord Jesus. Judas is leading them. Judas has sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Judas has betrayed Jesus. They want to take Jesus, arrest Him, condemn Him, crucify Him, be rid of Him, but they’re not quite certain which one is Jesus. Judas said, “Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast” (Matthew 26:48). Judas steps from that crowd; he approaches Jesus. He’s a first-­class hypocrite, for he bows and he says, “Hail, master” (Matthew 26:49). And then, he kisses Jesus. I don’t know where he kissed Jesus - perhaps on the cheek, perhaps he kissed Him on the hand, as a disciple would, many times, his master;? perhaps in false humiliation he kissed the feet of Jesus. We don’t know, but he kissed Jesus. That kiss was the kiss of shame; it was the kiss of infamy. It was a kiss that burned like a hot coal from hell. It was the kiss of betrayal, and it was the kiss of death. Judas kissed Jesus.

Jesus was the door to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9). And, Judas kissed the door to heaven, and then he went to hell. There are so many lessons that can be learned from this betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ by Judas. There are so many lessons that can be learned from the life of Judas. And, I’ve looked here - primarily in this sixth chapter of John. Many of those lessons just seem to come right out of this particular chapter that we’re looking at, and I want you to look at it with me.

I. A Lesson About Salvation

The very first thing I want you to learn is a lesson concerning salvation and what I want to call “the tragedy of a lost church member.” Now, Judas was one of the twelve apostles. He was a church member; and yet, he died and went to hell. Jesus said, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). And, as we’re going to see later on, Judas never was saved? he never was born again. Some people have the idea that Judas was saved and he lost his salvation. Oh, no - he never was saved. But, he was a church member, and outwardly he looked so fine. I mean, outwardly, folks, he had it all.

A. He Had the Right Association

He had association. I mean, he kept company with the twelve. He was one of the apostles. You couldn’t have better associations than that. He had association.

B. He Had the Right Education

Not only did he have association, he had education. I mean, he was educated by the

Lord Jesus Christ. You talk about a seminary education! He’d had three years with the Son of God. He’d seen Jesus heal the sick and raise the dead. He heard the Sermon on the Mount. He listened to the parables in Matthew 13. He’d heard it all, and he had education.

C. He Had the Right Reputation

Not only did he have the right association and the right education, but he had the right reputation. Do you know that Judas was the treasurer of the twelve? Now, you think about that, my friend. When you’re looking for someone in the organization to handle the money, who do you get? The best. You get somebody who’s got the right reputation - don’t you? - somebody that you think you can trust. You say, “We’re going to hand the money over to you.” And, the Bible says it was Judas that “had the bag” (John 12:6). He had reputation. As a matter of fact, when Jesus Christ said, “One of you is going to betray me” (Matthew 26:21? Mark 14:18; John 13:21), not a’ one of them said, “Well, I bet it’s old Judas.” They said, “Is it I?” No one suspected Judas. That tells me that he had an impeccable reputation.

D. He Had the Right Participation

Now, look - association, education, reputation, then participation. He worked; he served, and he went out with the others when they were sent out to preach or teach. Doubtless, he preached sermons. People called him “Brother Judas.” He ministered; he worked, but he was never saved. Jesus warned in Matthew chapter 7, verse 22: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you” (Matthew 7:22–23).

Suppose we were to have an interview with Mister Judas today, and I say to him, “Judas, are you saved?” He says, “I’m a church member.” “But Judas, I didn’t ask you that. I said, ‘Judas, are you saved?’” “I’m a member of an orthodox church. I’m a member of the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem.” “Judas, I didn’t ask you that. Judas, have you ever been born again?” “I’m a charter member.” “Judas, that’s not what I’m asking you. Judas, do you know Christ as your personal Savior?” “I, sir, am the treasurer in that church.”

My friend, listen to me. It breaks my heart to say it, and I feel like weeping when I say it - but I sincerely believe that there are some who are sitting in this auditorium, this morning, who are members of this church, who are going to die and go to hell. I believe that. That’s a sobering thought. But, there are many people today who, like Judas - you have the right association, you have the right reputation, you have the right education, you have the right participation, but you don’t have regeneration. You have never been born again. And, there are thousands - and perhaps millions - who are going to die and go to hell surrounded by baptismal certificates, receipts for church offerings, Sunday School attendance pins, and all the rest of it, but they’ve never been saved.

You say, “Well, now Pastor, are you trying to make me doubt my salvation?” No, I’m trying to make you examine yourself. The Bible says to “examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Do you know that you’re saved? Don’t you rest in your relationship with Bellevue Baptist Church. This church or any other church cannot save you. Do you know Christ as your personal Savior?

II. A Lesson About the Fulfillment of Scripture

Now, there’s a great lesson, therefore, concerning salvation in this passage of Scripture, but there’s also a great lesson concerning the Scriptures in this passage of Scripture and a tremendous blessing in this particular passage of Scripture, because, you see, there’s a problem that comes to our minds. Jesus said in John chapter 6, verses 70 and

71: “Have [I] not…chosen you twelve, and one of you is [the] devil?” (John 6:70). Now, Jesus chose a devil to be an apostle. That brings up a problem: Why would Jesus choose a devil to be an apostle? “Well,” you say, “He made a mistake.” He never makes mistakes. “Well,” you say, “Judas was right to begin with, and then he turned out wrong.” No, he was wrong from the beginning.

Let me show you something here. It’s very interesting. Look with me here in John chapter 6, and let me show you a scripture hunt in verse 64 - look at it: “But there are some of you that believe not” - that’s what Jesus said when He talked to those who were following Him - “But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not”  - you see, it didn’t take Him by surprise - “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him” (John 6:64). I mean, Jesus chose Judas with His eyes wide open, knowing that Judas would betray Him. He knew that Judas never believed. Now, that’s interesting. Why would Jesus want a crook in the ministry? Why would Jesus choose a hypocrite to be one of the twelve apostles? What’s all of this about?

You’re going to learn a wonderful lesson about the Scriptures. I want you to leave John chapter 6 and go to John chapter 13, and let me show you something here that will really bless your heart. I hope it will; it really blessed mine. John chapter 13 - and let’s begin reading in verse 18: Jesus is speaking of His disciples, and He says, “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen” - that is, “I did everything with my eyes wide open” - “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he” (John 13:18–19). Jesus explains in this passage, in John 13, why He chose Judas. He said, “I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled” (John 13:18). You see, there was a prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus in Psalm chapter 41 and verse 9: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). It was a prophecy of the betrayal of the Messiah, that the Messiah who would come - the Christ that would come - would be betrayed by a familiar friend. Jesus said, “The reason that Judas was chosen was that this scripture might be fulfilled” (John 13:18).

You see, folks, the Bible is an amazing and a wonderful book. Only God knows the future; only God can prophesy. The devil doesn’t know the future, Jeane Dixon doesn’t know the future. You don’t know the future. I don’t know the future. Only God knows the future. The only part of the future that we know is what God has revealed to us through the Bible - that’s all. Only God knows the future. One of the great authenticating factors of the Bible is fulfilled prophecy. I’ve studied the Bible long enough now to know that it is absolutely, totally impossible that this book could have been written other than by divine inspiration because of fulfilled prophecy.

And, Jesus said, “I am going to be betrayed - I’m going to be betrayed - as a fulfillment of scripture” (John 13:18). And then, He said, “And, it’s very important, when this happens, that you might believe that I am He” (John 13:19). Who is He talking about? “When you see all of these scriptures being fulfilled in me, then you’re going to know that I am the Messiah.” There are over three hundred and thirty-­three precise prophecies that converge in the Lord Jesus Christ, that are literally fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ - the Old Testament scriptures that were fulfilled in the New Testament by the Lord Jesus Christ. And, most of these were not fulfilled by His friends; they were fulfilled by His enemies, those who would have the most to lose by the fulfillment of these prophecies. They were the ones who fulfilled those prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

The very place they said He would be born, the manner of His life, the manner of His death, what His enemies would do - all of this was minutely prophesied. My friend, listen to me, and listen well: the possibility - the probability - that these prophecies were fulfilled by chance is astronomically negative. It is literally impossible to believe that all of these scriptures could be so minutely fulfilled and Jesus not be the Messiah. Thank God for the Bible. Judas was chosen, that it would be a fulfillment of scripture. Nothing got out of hand, and everything is exactly as the Bible has prophesied.

III. A Lesson About Service

Now, there’s a third lesson I want you to learn: not only a lesson about salvation and the danger of being an unsaved church member, and not only a wonderful comforting lesson as well as a warning lesson about the fulfillment of scripture, but there’s also a lesson I want us to learn about service in the story here of Judas. Now, notice in verses 67and 68: “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” - this is John chapter 6, verse 68 - “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:67–70). Now, Jesus turned to Simon Peter. He said, “Simon, are you going to leave me?” Other people were leaving. Simon says, “I’m not going to leave you, Lord. Where else would I go? I mean, there’s no other place, Lord. I’m committed to you for life.” Now, I want you to learn a lesson about service. Judas was a hypocrite. Judas failed and betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, but the other eleven continued to serve Jesus Christ. They did not quit; they continued to serve.

Some of you may stop serving the Lord Jesus and some of you may never begin serving the Lord Jesus because of some old Judas. Listen, folks, there have always been hypocrites in the Church? there always will be hypocrites in the Church. In the parables in Matthew chapter 13 - you go and read them - Jesus talks about the bad soil and the good soil, and the wheat and the tares, and the bad fish in the net, and all of this (Matthew 13:3–53). Read it. Hypocrites have not taken our Lord by surprise. They ought not to take you by surprise, and they ought not to keep you from serving the Lord Jesus. And, I tell you, there may be a few bad eggs on board? there may be some hypocrites on board - but the old ship of Zion plows onward, and I’m glad I’m aboard.

And, any man who will let a hypocrite keep him from serving the Lord Jesus Christ is a hypocrite himself. I’ll tell you why: because he’s not consistent. He says, “Well, I don’t want to be a member of the church and I don’t want to be a Christian because of the hypocrites.” You’re not consistent, mister. Some doctors are quacks, but when you get sick, you call on a doctor. Sure, you do. Some lawyers may be shysters, but when you need legal advice, you go to a lawyer. Some money is counterfeit, but you haven’t burned the rest of yours, have you? Of course, you haven’t. You see, as a matter of fact, dear friend, it is the counterfeit that validates the real. You see, men only counterfeit that which is valuable. Men don’t counterfeit gum wrappers; they counterfeit twenty-­dollar bills. Why? Because a twenty-­dollar bill is worth something - about five dollars. And so, they counterfeit twenty-­dollar bills because the counterfeit proves the worthwhileness and the validity of the real. You see, any man who hides behind a hypocrite is smaller than the hypocrite or he couldn’t hide behind him. Any man who lets a hypocrite keep him from Jesus Christ is a hypocrite himself. Sure, Judas was a hypocrite, but Peter says, “Where else are we going to go, Jesus? You alone have the words of life” (John 6:67–68). I had rather spend a few years with some of the hypocrites in the Church than spend eternity with all of them in hell. Don’t you let some Judas keep you from Jesus Christ.

You know, I believe some people are going to die and go to hell because they watched Elmer Gantry on the late movie, one night. How many of you know who I’m talking about? Let me see your hand. Yeah, you know the movie Elmer Gantry. There was a guy who was supposed to be a preacher of the gospel. He was a money-­grabber, a manipulator, and so forth - a philanderer. They say, “Well, that’s the way all these people are.” No, they’re not. I want to tell you something, friend - God knows I mean this: I’ve been preaching long enough to know there may be some hypocrites in the Church, but the best people on the face of God’s green earth are in the churches of Jesus Christ. I mean, the loveliest, finest, kindest, gentlest, self-­sacrificing, loving, and giving people you’re going to find in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t you let some Judas keep you from being a part of that crowd. Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” - “where else is there?” - “[You alone have] the words of…life” (John 6:68).

IV. A Lesson About the Social Gospel

There’s a wonderful lesson about service. There’s also, in this chapter, a lesson about the social gospel, which is no gospel at all, as we’re going to see.

You see, in this same chapter, Jesus had just fed the five thousand, and Judas was there when Jesus fed the five thousand. As a matter of fact, I have little doubt in my mind that Jesus fed Judas when he fed those others and Judas ate of that bread. I want you to look here in this chapter. After Jesus fed the five thousand - look in chapter 6, verse 26: “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled” - that is, “The only reason you’re following me is because you ate some of the bread.” And then, He says in verse 27 - “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed” (John 6:26–27). Now, what Jesus is saying is, “Don’t spend all of your time just trying to get some more bread in your stomach. There’s something else more important. You work for - you labor for - that meat which endures into everlasting life.” And then, look over, if you will, in John chapter 6, verse 47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven” (John 6:47–51). Look in verse 57: “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever” (John 6:57– 58).

You say, “Pastor, why did you read all those scriptures about the bread?” Because Christ is making a contrast. Jesus has fed them with physical, literal, material bread, but Jesus is saying, “You need something more than this bread. You need eternal life.” Judas ate that bread, and he’s in hell right now. “Now, what is the point, Pastor?” The point is that we have those today who would try to divert the Church from their main task and their main jog. Do you know what my task is at Bellevue Baptist Church? It’s to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. There are those today who want to turn the Church into a vast social agency.

A newspaper reporter interviewed me about Korea. He asked me about this very thing. He said, “I want to ask you why the churches are not more interested in the social gospel.” And, I told him, as I want to tell you: friend, there is no social gospel. There is but one gospel? it is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ - that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He was raised again on the third day. I am for feeding the poor - I believe we ought to. I give my own money to feed the poor. I try to give generously to do that. I am for housing people. I am for clothing the naked. I am for educating people, and I am for that with all of my heart and with all of my soul. Jesus did it, and so must we. But, Jesus tried to put it in perspective. Jesus said, “Now, wait a minute. You’re following me just because you eat of this bread.” He said, “Your fathers ate the manna that came from heaven, and they’re dead.” He said, “You’d better eat of me. Don’t labor for that bread that perishes but for that bread that lasts ’til eternal life.”

Oh, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, we ought to care about the people in Ethiopia. We ought to get food to them. But, if we don’t get the gospel to them, all we’re doing is populating hell. They’re going to live longer, procreate more and more people who are going to die and go to hell without the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, if you go out of here and say I said not to feed the poor, you’re lying. I didn’t say that. I am saying, my dear friend, that we had better not get diverted and stop preaching the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Judas ate that bread, and he’s in hell right now.

Why? Listen, if we had four billion dollars right now - four billion dollars to feed the poor - how many Big Macs could you buy with four million dollars? Could you buy four billion Big Macs? Could you? Could you get a Big Mac for a dollar with a coupon? All right, let’s just suppose you go to Wendy’s or Krystal - let’s give them all a little plug here - and you could get a hamburger for a dollar, and you’ve got four billion dollars. There are more than four billion people on the face of this earth. If you get every one of them a hamburger, five hours from now they’d all be hungry again, and they’re all going to die regardless.

Now, what Jesus is saying is, “Don’t spend all of your time just trying to get some more bread in your stomach. There’s something else more important. You work for - you labor for - that meat which endures into everlasting life” (John 6:27). My dear friend, our job is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the only hope of this world is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “There is eternal life. There’s everlasting life” (John 6:27). Judas ate of that bread, and now he’s dead because he never fed on the bread of life. He never knew the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have people today who just tell us to change the environment and you’re going to change the man. That’s wrong, dear friend. It is man that ruins the environment. Let me tell you, you think that the environmentalist has the answer? Do you know where man got in trouble? In the Garden of Eden. You’re not going to have a better environment than that. I mean, that’s where man fell - in the Garden of Eden. I am telling you, dear friend, that man needs more than soap and soup; he needs salvation. He needs Jesus Christ. He needs to be born again. And, this lesson of Judas here in this sixth chapter tells us of the failure of the social gospel, of not getting people saved and born again. What a warning it is to us that man needs something more than that which perishes. There’s a wonderful lesson there.

V. A Lesson About Sin

Also, there’s a lesson concerning sin here. I don’t know what caused Judas to betray the Lord Jesus. Some have theorized that Judas was trying to force the hand of Jesus. He thought Jesus was sort of like a wimp, that Jesus was just not manly enough - He wasn’t taking charge. These people are trying to make Judas look a little better, and they’re trying to say that Judas was just trying to participate in a crisis so that Jesus would assert Himself and take over the kingdom. I don’t think I believe that. It doesn’t make any difference whether I believe it or not. The Bible doesn’t say it. We don’t know whether he did it or not. Some people say, “He just betrayed Jesus because he was a thief.” The Bible does say, “He was a thief” (John 12:6), and he was just greedy for thirty pieces of silver. Other people say, “He did it because he was demon-­possessed.” Why ever he did it, however he did it, that doesn’t matter. He did it, and then he said, later on, “I have betrayed the innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). You see, sin deceived him. Then, later on, the Bible teaches that he hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). Sin destroyed him. Then, later on, he died and went to his own place? he went to hell. Jesus said, “It would have been better for him if he’d never been born” (Mark 14:21). Sin deceived him; sin destroyed him, and sin damned him.

You’re going to learn a lesson about sin today. I want every young person listening to me now - listening to me by radio, listening to me by television, or listening to me by tape later on - to learn this. A country preacher told me this a long time ago. He said, “Adrian, never forget this: sin will take you further than you want to go? two, sin will keep you longer than you want to stay? three, sin will cost you more than you want to pay.”

Now, what happened to Judas? The Bible says in Matthew 27 that he hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). But, the Bible says in the early part of the book of Acts that he “[fell down] headlong [and broke] asunder…and…his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18). Well, which is true? Did he hang himself, or did he fall and split asunder? Both. What happened is this, I’m quite confident: Judas did hang himself. The deed that he’s done hangs like a pall of gloom over him. He throws the money back to the priest. He says, “I…betrayed…innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). With trembling fingers, he fastens the hangman’s noose. He puts it around his neck, puts it over a limb, and swings out over a cliff or some precipice, and dangles there. His neck is pulled up sideways. His circulation is cut off. He cannot breathe. His face turns red, white, and then blue from lack of oxygen. He begins to gasp and to gurgle. He quivers. He expires, and he steps from the hell within him to the hell beyond him. And, his body still dangles there from that limb. He hanged himself. But then, the Bible says, “He burst asunder” (Acts 1:18), and the idea there, in the language, is like an overripe melon that’s dropped on the ground. As that body dangles from that limb, if it stayed there very long, it would begin to swell, and the skin would become checkered as it stretched and split. And, the tongue would protrude, and the flies would gather on the tongue. The birds would come and pick out the eyes. And, the body would continue to bloat, and the stench would be unbearable. And finally, someone would come along and see that disgusting sight, and shielding their nose from the stench, with a knife would come and cut that body down. And, it would fall to the jagged rocks. Then, it would burst, and the entrails would spill out on the ground.

You say, “My goodness, Preacher. It’s almost lunch. You’re talking that way?” Well, look, folks: I just want to show you that sin is not a pretty thing. You know, the devil likes to glamorize it, doesn’t he? But, you see, it didn’t end there. If that’s all, that wouldn’t be so bad, but Jesus said of Judas that it had been “good…for that man [that] he had never been born” (Mark 14:21). You see, if Judas could just commit suicide and it’d be all over, that’d be something. But, Jesus said, “It had been good for him that he’d never been born” (Mark 14:21). You see, listen, if you’re born twice, you die once. If you’re born once, you’ll die twice. And, if you die twice, you’ll wish you’ve never been born at all. Judas died, and he went to hell. What a solemn warning of the power of sin!

Conclusion

Friend, do you know Jesus? “Well,” you say, “I don’t know Jesus, but I’m no Judas.” Yes, but Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). And, you see, look, if you’re not saved, you’re in the same crowd with Judas, and you’ll spend eternity with Judas in hell. “But,” you say, “I’ve never sinned like Judas.” No, you haven’t, but, you see, it’s not the type of sin? it is the fact of sin.

Have you been reading recently about the Titanic? They haven’t brought it up, but they discovered it - thirty thousand feet (two-­and-­a-­half miles) down on the ocean floor. It was called “the unsinkable,” and it did the unthinkable - and it sunk. Unsinkable, but that’s about the only thing it ever did - sink. And now, they’ve found it down there. You say, “Well, yes, my goodness, everybody ought to drown in two-and-a­half miles of water.” Listen, friend: more people have drowned in thirteen feet of water than have drowned in thirteen thousand feet of water. More drown near the shore than in the middle of the ocean. Do you realize that? It is not the type of sin? it is the fact of sin that condemns us.