Are You Known in Hell?

“But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15)

From this text, it is clear that Jesus and Paul are known in hell. The sons of Sceva were not. Are you known in hell? In other words – are you a threat to the devil’s status quo? Is Satan concerned about your prayers that move the Spirit to action, your evangelistic work that depopulates hell, your preaching or teaching that humbles and debases men while exalting and praising Jesus?

Elijah was known in hell. Jeremiah was known in hell. Daniel was known in hell. Isaiah was known in hell. Ezekiel was known in hell. John the Baptist was known in hell. Wycliff was known in hell. Huss was known in hell. Tyndale was known in hell. Luther was known in hell. Whitefield was known in hell. Edwards was known in hell. Spurgeon was known in hell. William Carey was known in hell. Lloyd-Jones was known in hell. Paul Washer is known in hell. David Platt is known in hell. These men all preached and preach fearlessly, calling people to repentance. Many suffered the rejection, ridicule, and degradation thrown at them by the prince of darkness.

“Are you known in hell? Is Satan upset with you? Does he have his target painted on your heart, mind, and will? Is hell being adversely affected by your life and ministry? These are the questions that ought to be periodically addressed by each of us, but especially by those of us who earn our living by preaching” (Al Baker).

What characterizes those known in hell? In his novel, Why Revival Tarries, Leonard Ravenhill gives five characteristics: His confidence in the Word of God, his knowledge of the wrath of a Holy God upon Sin, the efficacy of the blood of Jesus, his blessed assurance, and finally, the reality that we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.

Paul more than once used the phrase “I am persuaded.” In this verse we find his secret! What persuaded him fully? It was the Word of God! The Revealed truth in the Word of God held him like a vise. It governed absolutely every area of his life. He was mastered by the Word of God. The Word, like the Lord, was immutable. Paul’s anchor was cast in the depths of God’s faithfulness. He rested entirely on the promises of God, knowing that He will be faithful to fulfill them. His sword was the Word of God; his strength was faith in that Word.

Another anchor that held his soul undaunted was the wrath of a Holy God upon sin. “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (2 Cor. 5:11). Paul accounted all men as lost apart from Christ! He saw the reality that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:13). That man is dead in their trespasses and sins, and that it must be the sovereign work of God to raise a dead man from spiritual death to spiritual life! Paul knew that it was only through the Lord Jesus Christ that man could ever be reconciled to a Holy God! Paul knew that the wrath of Holy God against sin was poured out upon Christ on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ experienced hell on the cross for the elect. On the third day He was resurrected from the dead, defeating death and satisfying the fury of the wrath of God. Because Paul loved His Lord, he also hated the sin that He hates. This doctrine drove Paul to seek and save the lost.

Additionally, Paul rested in the sovereignty of God in salvation, and saw Christ’s ability to fully save! Yes, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, But Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him! Paul saw clearly that right now, right his moment, men are being swept into the whirlwind of iniquity which ultimately will suck them down to an eternal hell. Is this true? Yes! And Paul was convinced about this. This drove him in his evangelistic efforts. He knew the promises of God that there are a people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, who have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb, and they will come to faith in Christ when the gospel is proclaimed to them (Rev. 7). This guarantee of success drove Paul! Christ has already purchased His Church by His own blood on the Cross. He is now using the means of preaching and prayer to fulfill His eternal decrees of Redemption! Amazing!

Finally, the last two anchors that drove Paul were his blessed assurance and the reality that as a believer in Christ he will be judged by what he has done in the body. Paul saw that life is Christ, and death is gain, since he will go immediately into the presence of His Saviour! What a glorious comfort to us Christians! Out of life into life! However, the reality of 2 Cor. 5:10, where we must “all appear before the judgement seat of Christ”, placed in Paul’s mind an eternal compass, where he continually had heaven and hell before his eyes. Every moment he knew that someone would be stepping into eternity, and he saw that every moment, every person he was placed beside has been sovereignly governed by God so that they would receive the gospel.

Brethren, are you known in hell? Seek God earnestly until the devil knows and fears you. Nothing else matters. As Leonard Ravenhill once said, being known in hell “is the highest praise that earth or hell affords – to be classified by the enemy as one with Jesus.”