The Bible has never been shy or unapologetic when it comes to exposing the sins, deceit, and wickedness of fallen humanity and our war against the righteousness and holiness of God. The Bible is open and blunt about the penalty for sin, but has also shown that the Lord God is not willing that any of us should die in our sins and end up in hell, although we deserve it. He has offered us the ONLY way out of our sinful predicament and that is through the work and person of the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah 45:22; Ezekiel 18:23; John 3:16, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:6-11; 2 Peter 3:9). This present generation has settled on watering down the seriousness of sin and evil and the church has made reprobates comfortable in the pews sipping their lattes and hearing messages that tickle ears and dare not offend sensitive souls for fear of losing members or being seen by society and the world as some kind of "hate group" for even suggesting that we are accountable before a Holy, Omnipotent, Sovereign God for our actions and words when we take our last breath (2 Timothy 4:1-5; Hebrews 9:27; James 4:15-17). Spineless, jellyfish preachers who fear people more than the Prince of Peace will have accumulated spiritual junk that will burn instead of jewels that will shine when placed in the fire of Christ's righteous judgment (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Their woes are even more fearsome to ponder since their lifestyles, sermons, and teachings will be the evidence that the LORD uses to place the millstone around their necks and told as they descend into the depths of eternal darkness that He never knew them in the first place (Matthew 7:21-23, 18:6).
Time is running out, ladies and gentlemen (no other genders need apply or exist, thank you), and you have no control whatsoever when it comes to the events of this day and their outcome (Luke 12:13-21). If you are reading this sermon and turn away and laugh at what is being presented here, or curse Christ and go check out porn sites or the words of political pundits while deliberately ignoring or ridiculing the Gospel message, then leave with the knowledge that you have been warned. Your blood is no longer on my hands (Ezekiel 3:18). Your soul is in danger of judgment and eternal punishment in hell for rejecting the ONLY way to escape the coming wrath and terror that is about to come upon this world (Revelation 20:11-15). I beg of you to not turn away from the loving arms of the Savior this day (Matthew 11:28-30; John 10:28-30). Please continue to read what is being presented here and ask yourself if you are truly ready to face the fact that you will be pushing up the daisies one of these days, and then what ? I love you enough as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be honest with you if no one else will when it comes to the matter of your behavior, actions, and words in the light of eternity.
The Bible shows us that the people within its pages did not walk around with haloes or traits that somehow kept them invulnerable from the worldviews and wickedness that we have wallowed in since the time after Eden. Look at these notable characters:
We start with King Saul, whose life and rule is presented in the book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament. At first he was humble before the LORD. However, his ego and self-exaltation drove him far from God, and came to the point where most of his rule was devoted to hunting down and murdering the man whom God had anointed to be the next king of Israel, the shepherd-warrior David. Towards the end of his rule, Saul sought not the counsel of the LORD but the advice of a psychic, and ended up losing his life and that of his son Jonathan in a battle with the traditional enemy of Israel, the Philistines. His sins cost him his crown, his life, and possibly his soul.
There was Samson (Judges 13-16), called to the service of God even before he was born, growing up to be one of the judges (deliverers) of Israel. He wavered between devotion to God and the desires of the flesh in chasing after prostitutes and other vices. It culminated with his downfall at the hands of the Philistine seductress Delilah, with his eyes being put out and imprisoned. He died between the pillars of the temple of Dagon, the Philistine god as he brought it down with a final act of strength given to him by the living God. How would Israel have fared if he maintained a life devoted solely to the things of God?
Even King David, the greatest of all of the rulers of Israel, known as "a man after God's own heart", and who composed the majority of the Psalms we read of in the Old Testament, succumbed to the sins of the flesh by seducing and impregnating the wife of a faithful and dedicated soldier within his army named Uriah. To cover up this scandal, he tried to have Uriah come home from duty and be with his wife, thinking that the child would be his at birth. When that failed, David had Uriah killed in battle and married Bathsheba, Uriah's widow, afterwards (2 Samuel 12-24). God saw to it that he did not get away with this crime. The prophet Nathan confronted him for it. David repented with a broken heart (Psalm 51), but faced turmoil and troubles for the rest of his life as a punishment from God. David's sins exemplified what Moses had written in the books of the Law (Numbers 32:23). Go and read it. It applies to you and me as well, friend.
The apostle who threw away the very grace and presence of Jesus Christ Himself, Judas Iscariot, fell into the most horrendous of sins, and that was to betray Christ the night before He was to face the agony of the cross. This man whom Jesus had selected to be within His intimate circle of disciples would end up preaching, teaching, and healing people and closely following the Master for three and a half years along with the others. Yet, Judas was never a real follower (John 6:71) and also a thief (John 12:4-6), although he was given every opportunity to repent and be truthful to the LORD. He ending up hating Jesus for suggesting that the Messiah would have to die and be raised again to free the people not from the grip of Rome, but from the grip of sin and the devil. He sold out the LORD for the price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver. He was filled with remorse and threw the money back at the Pharisees afterwards, but never repented. He hung himself and went to hell. His was the ultimate waste of life and potentiality.
Our society in general has done its best to bring the biblical condemnation of sin to an acceptable level, even to the point of declaring it as evil (Isaiah 5:20-21), and replacing it with our moral foundation of dung, slime, and mud and silencing anyone who would question it otherwise. Every person on this earth operates by a standard even if it's just a matter of their own opinion. The Scriptures warn those with ears to hear that the authentic, unmovable, and absolute standards by which we will be held accountable is not of our own design, wishes, or ideology, but that of the Sovereign LORD God Almighty and His infallible, inerrant, final, and Holy Word (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21). It is the biblical standard and not our present social insanity that will determine not only where we stand with God, but will also determine where we will spend eternity. We are moral creatures who will either enjoy the splendor of heaven or the terrors of hell. There are only two options -God's way, or ours, and we do not have the best batting average when it comes to running things apart from His direction and rule. We fall far short of God's standards (Romans 3:23, 6:23), and apart from Him, all we face afterwards is death and its fury.
Our ONLY hope is to repent of our wickedness and surrender our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10). He took our sins upon Himself WILLINGLY when He went to the cross, bloody and battered as the prophets declared long ago (Isaiah 53), and gave Himself as the final and complete sacrifice for our sins (John 20:30-31). We do not have to pay for our sins, for our wickedness and reprobate ways place us in a debt from which we can never get out in our own strength or by our own efforts. The grace, mercy, and salvation we need but do not deserve is a free gift from God for the asking (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is not of works nor what we consider "good deeds" (Isaiah 64:6). God is the Author of our salvation (Psalm 27:1, 37:39, 62:2; John 10:9; Romans 10:13; 1 Timothy 1:10; Titus 2:11-12; 1 John 5:11). You don't have to do anything but come before Him and ask in faith. He will forgive you of everything you have ever done or said and will cast it away to never be brought up before you again (Psalm 103:1-12). Your wounded heart, troubled soul, tearful eyes, and overall life will be swept away (Revelation 21:1-7) and you will be a new creation in Christ, never to be lost or removed from His presence (John 10:28-30; 2 Corinthians 5:17). The LORD holds no grudges against anyone who comes to Him and asks for salvation.
You do NOT have to carry around the weight of your sins anymore, and after reading this message, why would you want to do so? Please consider what you have read and what I am trying to tell you. You have no guarantee of tomorrow (2 Corinthians 6:2). Swallow your pride, quit listening to the voice telling you to ignore what you have read, for that is a demon trying to deceive you (2 Corinthians 11:14; James 2:19), repent, and trust in Jesus Christ this day to redeem you and make you new, whole, free, ready for the heaven and glory that awaits you (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:55-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 3:10) and the hell that you will avoid (Matthew 25:41). Jesus wants you in heaven with Him, friend, and so do I.
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