“It was also about [lawless people] that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” [1]
Undoubtedly, one of the saddest assignments for any minister of the Gospel is that of warning of the fate of disobedience. For this reason the subject is frequently neglected for pulpit discourse or even rejected as unworthy of consideration. Still, those passages which speak of the wrath of God remain in Scripture. Wishful thinking does not remove them from the Word, neither does ignoring them lessen the awesome impact when they are fulfilled.
Is God cruel if He punishes those who reject His overtures of grace and mercy? Is the minister sadistic because he warns of impending judgement for that man who persists in relentlessly pursuing his own way while turning from the perfect sacrifice which God has provided in His own Son. These questions are not new to our world. Nearly two thousand years ago the Apostle Paul dealt with these very issues. “What shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world” [ROMANS 3:5b-6]?
Some of the saddest passages in the entirety of Scripture bespeak God’s judgement against unbelief, warning of judgement of unbelievers. What is gained from a perusal of such passages? Why would the Holy Spirit include such material in the Word? The answers are as ancient as the questions, just as the sainted Apostle to the Gentiles has written: “[A]ll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [ROMANS 3:23].
Paul has compiled a number of passages revealing mankind’s character, writing,
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
[ROMANS 3:10-17]
Then, the Apostle adds the most damning accusation of all when he writes,
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
[ROMANS 3:18].
Jude describes mankind as, “Wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever” [JUDE 13]. This description fits each of us, none being excluded.
No one is born a Christian, nor can anyone claim to be a Christian—a follower of the Christ—by virtue of association with national, cultural, or social institutions. You cannot claim to be a Christian—a follower of the Christ—because you are a member of a church. Catholics, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Baptists—people representing every denomination known to mankind, will be in Hell because they trusted in their church affiliation rather than trusting in Christ as Master over life. Jesus warned against trusting in one’s religious affiliation when He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” [MATTHEW 7:21-23].
We must never forget that each individual is born in sin; and by nature we are all objects of wrath—not one of us is excluded from this awful condemnation. David, in his confession of his own sinfulness delivered after he had been confronted by God’s prophet, admitted a dark truth for all mankind, writing,
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
[PSALM 51:5]
It is not that the birth of a child is sinful, but the child that is born is contaminated by the unseen virus of sin. From first cry, each child is under sentence of death. Our children are sinners by virtue of humanity’s fallen condition. Babies are innocent, but they are still under sentence of death. This is the awful truth that we know instinctively.
What is not always recognised, and what must be declared by the redeemed of the Lord, is that our pitiful, broken condition elicited the love of God. And His divine love procured the means for our salvation and adoption into His eternal family through the sacrifice of Jesus Who is the Son of God.
A great and neglected theme of the Word of God is that our Lord Christ is coming again. What is too often forgotten in our grief when we are confronted with the death of a loved one, is the knowledge that when our Lord comes, He will bring with Him those who have departed in the Faith. Our Lord will then reign over this earth for a thousand years, at the conclusion of which time He will judge the unbelieving and the fearful. With respect to those who are unbelieving, Jude declares that at His return the Lord will have the twofold purpose of judgement and conviction. Sinners will be judged, and found guilty of unbelief.
CHRIST IS COMING TO JUDGE. If you have ever participated in one of my Bible study classes in which I addressed eschatological themes, you will have quite possibly heard me say that there is more than one resurrection recorded in the Word. I have listed them in previous messages, but it is important to do so again in this message. According to what is recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, there was a resurrection of the bodies of saints at the time of Christ's death. This resurrection took place before Christ Himself had risen from the tomb. The Scriptural account informs Bible readers, “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many” [MATTHEW 27:52-53].
The death of Christ emptied Paradise, and the bodies of many Old Testament saints were raised from the dead. This accounts for the revelation given by Paul, citing PSALM 68:18, and writing,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.”
[EPHESIANS 4:8]
Of course, we are quite aware that Christ our Lord was raised from the dead after three days in the tomb. The Apostle John records the events surrounding Jesus’ resurrection in this way: “On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” [JOHN 20:1 9].
The Master was alive! Though He had often spoken of His resurrection, the disciples were incapable of believing what they witnessed. They knew what He had said, but the reality was opposed to everything they had ever experienced! Don’t be overly critical of those disciples; we don’t do much better today. Despite the evidence that Jesus is alive, despite the testimony of those first disciples who saw Him, despite the testimony of those who spoke with Him, despite the testimony of transformed lives, we struggle to believe that He is alive. We neglect that those first disciples maintained their confidence that He conquered death, rising from the dead, despite horrible persecution. They held to that confidence for over forty years without recanting their confidence that He was alive! These disciples held to their confidence in the face of unimaginable opposition and even death. They had seen Christ the Lord! He was alive! They spoke with Him face-to-face!
There will be a resurrection of the redeemed saints at Christ’s call, which call marks the rapture and initiates the period known as the Great Tribulation. Long years before Jesus walked the dusty trails of Judea and Galilee, Daniel was prompted to record the words an angel spoke to him, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” [DANIEL 12:2-3].
Later in the Scriptures we will read the promise of God as the Apostle has written, “If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’ But when it says, ‘all things are put in subjection,’ it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” [1 CORINTHIANS 15:12 28].
We also have received that most comforting promise that was written to comfort the Church in Thessalonica. You will undoubtedly recall that the Apostle has written, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:13 18]. We who are saved are looking for the return of our Lord when we shall be changed into His image.
At the last there shall be the resurrection of the wicked dead at the conclusion of the millennial reign of Christ. This is that awful day when the lost shall at last fulfil the prophetic word that informs us, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” [PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11].
This is that dreadful day that John describes, writing, “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done” [REVELATION 20:11-13].
Just as there is more than one resurrection, so there is more than one judgement. The child of God, the believer, has already been judged in Christ and has been declared free of guilt. Thus, there is no condemnation for redeemed people, just as we read, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” [JOHN 3:18].
This truth is revealed again by Jesus’ statement that promises those who follow Him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life” [JOHN 5:24].
This judgement of believers has already been accomplished; it shall never be repeated because sin was judged once for all in Christ, just as Isaiah had prophesied:
“He was pierced for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with His wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.”
[ISAIAH 53:5-6]
Though free of guilt, believers are yet to be judged as rewards are determined. However, this is not a judgement to determine whether they deserve rewards—it is a judgement to determine what rewards will be awarded for each follower of the Christ. Paul, writing the Church of God in Corinth, reminds Bible readers, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:10]. We redeemed souls will be recognised and rewarded for the things we have done that ascribed glory of God and glorified Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is revealed when Paul writes, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:10-14].
To be certain, the lazy saint, that fearful Christian who thought she could coast through life without taking a stand for righteousness as the world assailed the Faith, will be excluded from the divine recognition, just as the Apostle makes evident when he continues writing, “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” [1 CORINTHIANS 3:15]. She will be saved, to be sure, but she must not imagine she will be rewarded. That saint will be redeemed, but she will be marked throughout eternity as having played it safe. When it mattered, she was absent from the conflict.
And what of the unbelieving? What is their judgement? For the unbelieving, who have sought to establish their own righteousness through their own efforts, such comfort is not afforded in the Word. We have already noted that dark scene painted by John in the Apocalypse, that dark scene that speaks of death and Hades delivering up the dead that are in them. These damned sinners face an awful reckoning as they must at last face the Judge of all mankind. John concludes his review of that awful scene, writing, “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” [REVELATION 20:14-15].
Religion will not spare the lost from judgement. And I fear that the churches of North America are populated with a startling array of individuals who are members, though they are unsaved. Doctor Luke recorded Jesus’ stern words spoken against such presumption that leads people to imagine that religion can be substituted for salvation when he wrote, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out” [LUKE 13:24-28].
Are you one of those deluded souls who imagine that God is a great, cosmic judge who will one day sit enthroned before a great balance? On the one side of the balance will be all the “good deeds” you may have performed; and your good deeds will be weighed against the “bad deeds” you may have done to determine whether your good outweighs your bad. Is that what you imagine? You are in serious error if that is your thinking. Your supposed righteous deeds can never suffice to remove the sin which clings to you as stench wafts from rotting fruit. God says through the prophet Isaiah:
“We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
[ISAIAH 64:6]
Your supposed “good deeds” are filthy in comparison to the righteousness demanded by Holy God. Only His righteousness will suffice to set aside His judgement.
I cannot, I dare not, depend upon my goodness to deliver me from the judgement of the righteous God, for I have no goodness of my own with which to persuade Him. To depend upon my personal merits is to place myself in jeopardy of the judgement of God when Christ shall sit at that day. For one to trust in his own acts is to assure that he shall surely be included in this awful scene which John describes in that closing scene of his revelation. We know that the unbelieving will be judged “according to what they [have] done” [see REVELATION 20:12-13]. It will not be as they vainly imagine, for their goodness will not suffice to avert judgement or to remove sin.
This judgement before the great white throne is but a formality, for judgement has already been passed upon each individual, revealing that either that we are rebels to God’s grace or that we are recipients of His grace. The Word of God clearly declares, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned” [JOHN 3:18a]. Recipients of the grace of God through what Jesus has already provided, our faith secures God's mercy, pardon, and salvation. Against this blessed condition is the dark knowledge of eternal condemnation, revealed when we read, “[B]ut whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God” [JOHN 3:18b]. Under judgement of God, already condemned because the condemned one refuses to accept His terms of full pardon and freedom from sin, this is the condition describing those yet in unbelief. Those outside the grace of God are under condemnation now. Now, are they in peril. Now, are they judged sinners.
I tell you that God must judge sin since it was sin which caused the death of His Son. Therefore, God has appointed a day on the which He shall judge sin through that same Jesus who now makes a way for deliverance. Jesus Himself has taught us, “As the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgement is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” [JOHN 5:26-30].
CHRIST IS COMING TO CONVICT. “It was also about [lawless people] that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him’” [JUDE 14-15].
What exactly does this word “convict” mean? The word “convict” is translated from the Greek elégcho. The meaning of the word primarily would be understood to mean “to expose,” “to bring to light,” “to set forth,” and hence, to mean “to convince” or “to convict.” The deliberate choice of words conveys the thought of presenting such a volume of evidence that it is impossible to deny what is made abundantly evident.
Isn't conviction the role of the Holy Spirit? Today the Holy Spirit operates as the agent of conviction, as Jesus said, “When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” [JOHN 16:8-11].
Today, the Holy Spirit of God speaks to people, pleading with them concerning their relationship to God, seeking to demonstrate the meanness and poverty of heart which all experience prior to conversion. Today, He speaks through preachers, through the witness of believers, but He speaks especially through the Word of God as written and as delivered to mankind. If we will heed Him, we will learn of our sin and our lack of righteousness, and we will thus flee the wrath to come. There is a day appointed when no man shall any longer be convicted by the Spirit of God. God says of His Spirit: “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh” [GENESIS 6:3a]. When the Spirit of God ceases to plead with people, they shall be under the conviction of Christ Himself. At that time, their conviction will be as Jude describes it.
They will be convicted of ungodliness, for Jude says that the Christ is coming “to convict all the ungodly.” “Ungodly” is the English translation of the Greek word asébeia. We ran into that word previously in verse four, where these spiritual termites are revealed to be ungodly people. Taken in the literal sense, the word means “to be without awe.” It was formed from the verb sébo, meaning “to worship,” which in turn is drawn from the word sébes, which refers to the act of stepping back. In time the word spoke of stepping back in awe in the presence of nobility or when in the presence of a person of rank or power. Still later it came to refer to the act of worship as one would step back in awe in the presence of deity. With the addition of the negating “a,” serving as the alpha privative in that Greek tongue, asébeia speaks of lacking reverence or awe.
Thus, to be ungodly is not necessarily to be openly evil or wicked as most people would perhaps think of wickedness or evil. To be ungodly is as simple as lacking reverence or awe, whether the ungodly individual fails to demonstrate such reverence or simply lacks any sense of awe is essentially immaterial. To refuse to acknowledge God as God, to refuse to acknowledge His Son as Master over one’s life, to seek to make oneself equal to God through presenting her own pious acts in place of His mercy, that is to be asébeia, to be godless, or to be ungodly. When Christ comes on that day of judgement, He will convict—convince and prove—what is in the heart of the ungodly individual. All mankind will stand as open books before the Judge of all.
Pleading that we were church members will not suffice in that day of revealing what is in the heart of man. Pleading that we were baptised will not suffice in the day of revealing what is in the heart of man. Pleading that we have done good will not suffice in that day of revealing what is in the heart of man. Only trust in the finished sacrifice of Christ would have sufficed to avoid that awful day. At that time, all who have rejected and refused the grace of God presented in the risen, reigning Christ will be revealed for what they are—ungodly.
The method of revelation will be threefold: to reveal our ungodly acts; to reveal our ungodly manners; and to reveal our harsh words spoken against Him. What an awesome thought! I, if I dare rely on my own actions in a vain attempt to merit God's forgiveness, will be revealed for what I am. I will stand exposed for all to see my real person.
WHAT IS THE FATE OF THOSE CHRIST JUDGES AND CONVICTS? Of the ungodly individuals of whom he writes, Jude speaks of them as “wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever” [JUDE 12-13].
Whenever we allow ourselves think of the judgement of God, if indeed we permit ourselves to think of such weighty matters, we tend to think of the torments of the damned, of fire and brimstone. That is an awful thought, but it is an accurate picture which even our Lord presented during His days among us as one of us. Perhaps we need to be aware of other aspects of the judgement of God which will weigh on those so judged. Jude presents two aspects which we would be prone to overlook—shame and darkness.
We tend to think in physical terms since we are physical creatures. May I remind you that we are as well spiritual creature. May I further remind you that spiritual beings, the angels which fell from their exalted position, are also to be incarcerated in hell as are those individuals who reject Christ. Therefore, physical punishment cannot be the total picture.
The individual who rejects the light of God and the light of His Word carries within his breast an awful darkness. That darkness will be manifest in hell. Milton, the blind Puritan poet who had such brilliant insight into the things of God wrote:
He that has light within his own clear breast,
May sit in the centre, and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks under the midday sun;
Himself is his own dungeon. [2]
The final prison of the angels who rebelled will have been transformed into the insane asylum of the universe; and those not owning Christ as Master will be consigned there with the demons and with Satan forever and ever. Oh, the horror of that thought! And that dreadful place is spoken of as a place of “utter darkness.” I would not wish any soul to experience that awful place which can only be described as “utter darkness.”
Not only is that place spoken of as a place of utter darkness,” but Jude speaks of the shame of that place. Eternal shame is virtually incomprehensible to us. But think with me! Those who inhabit that awful place will experience for all eternity the shame of having rejected God’s own Son and thus bringing upon themselves the righteous judgement of God. Those who are incarcerated in that awful place will experience the shame of having their ungodliness exposed before men and angels. Those consigned to that madhouse of rebellious angels will experience the shame of having all hidden deeds revealed before all creation. And the shame will continue unabated forever and ever.
We live in a strange world. Sin in certain ways, and ever after you bear your sin before your fellow man. We categorise sins and assign some sins to a category of great shame. The pedophile is shunned, his sinful behavior being abhorred by all. Yet, adultery may carry the approval of society provided you are recognised as someone of importance. But before God, is there any difference between a premiere or a governor guilty of adulterous relationships and a pedophile who seduces multitudes of young boys? We are quick to shame our fellowman for certain sins while neglecting others. A businessman may cheat and steal, but as long as he is successful we excuse the thief. A man may be proud and self righteous, utterly abhorrent before God, but as long as he is a noted athlete or musician or actor or politician we give him our enthusiastic praise.
I remind you that God sees sin in an entirely different light from the way in which we are prone to see those same misdeeds. There are no degrees of sin before Holy God. Unlike our own distorted views, before God there are no “little” sins and “large” sins. Rather, it was S I N which required the Son of God to give His life as a sacrifice; it was our sin—our broken condition, our inability to make ourselves righteous—that made it necessary for God the Son to give His life. He died because of us. Therefore, when God judges and convicts, everyone who is judged in that awful assize will forever bear the glaring stain of the Divine condemnation. The sinner will be eternally exposed as a rebel to grace. It will be forever known that she clung to her own misshapen concept of goodness while rejecting the grace that would have delivered her. She will be forever exposed as a fool who brought on herself the eternal damnation.
This need not be the case for anyone of us. The love of Christ and compassion for sinners who now stand condemned compels me to tell you that there is no need for any of us to face the judgement of God. Of the mercies of the Lord, Peter said, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” [2 PETER 3:9].
This is a day of grace, a day of unmerited favor. Today, God pleads for each one of us to turn from our own destructive way, embracing Him and embracing life. His favour is not found in the Church membership. His favour is not found in baptism. His favour is not found in our own puerile efforts. His favour is found only in His Son.
How shall you find this favor? How shall you be set free from my sin and the pending judgement you deserve? How may you be reconciled to God? This is what you must do: you must look to Christ, trusting Him alone without relying in any measure on your own efforts or the efforts of my church or the efforts of any other. Listen to the promise of God given to all who are willing to receive His mercy. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [JOHN 3:16]. Believe in the only Son of God, and you will have eternal life.
The promise is a theme throughout the Word of God. Jesus promised, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” [JOHN 6:40].
The accounts provided in the Bible are given so that you will believe, just as it is written, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” [JOHN 20:30-31].
You who have heard me speak at other times in the past know that I quite often conclude the messages I deliver by citing the promise given in the Letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to Roman Christians. The Apostle was guided by the Spirit of Christ to pen this promise: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10].
The Lord God graciously ensures that this promise is so simple that even a child can understand when He reaches back to the ancient words penned by the Prophet Joel, who said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. This gracious offer of life in the beloved Son includes you, but you need to decide whether you will respond to God’s offer, or whether you will continue to ignore the grace offered to you at this time. The urgency demands that you decide now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] John Milton, Comus I.373
