Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
GOD’S FINAL SOLUTION
In the dark days of World War II, Hitler’s Third Reich, that was supposed to reign for 1000 years, was determined to rid the world of any remnant of those who were of Jewish ancestry. The death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Dachau and many others belched smoke and fire day and night for many months as the bodies of many of the 6 million Jews that died at the hands of German tormentors, were burned to ashes. This great crime upon humanity was designated as the “Final Solution” for ridding the world of Jews whom Hitler and his Aryan race considered as little more than vermin. In a greater sense, it can easily be seen that this was also Satan at work in the mind of a madman that had been totally deceived and was now a tool of the devil to destroy God’s chosen people once and for all before they could establish a nation.
For over 1800 years the Jews had been dispersed. In the year 70 AD, Titus, the Roman General invaded Israel and destroyed the temple then commenced to dismantle the nation of the Jews. The years that followed were filled with such persecution and hatred that Jews fled the land of Israel to find safety wherever they could.
But Satan knew of the prophecies and of the end time events. He knew that there would come a day when Israel would once again become a nation and would never again be destroyed. He also knew that the day they became a nation would mark the beginning of the end for his own reign of terror over all of creation and that his days as god of this world were numbered.
I’m here to tell you that God has designed His own “Final Solution” for all those who live in rebellion and sin. That will not just include Satan and his fallen angels but will also include every man, woman and child over the age of accountability that chooses not to live in obedience and to not accept the great salvation that is offered through the death of Jesus upon the Cross of Calvary.
There is coming a time when God will bring an end to the reign of terror that Satan has had over mankind and all of God’s great creation since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Satan’s strangle hold on the throat of every man will be finally broken and God will usher in that eternal day.
What a great day that will be for all who have accepted Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives. What a glorious, wonderful time that will be when there will be no more power of sin; no more sickness, pain or death; no more sorrow. Oh, how we long and watch for that day.
We desire to be with our Lord in Heaven and yet there is much that we would like to see done in this life also. There are so many of our lost loved ones and people we know who will not be a part of that great celebration unless they choose quickly to follow after Christ. There end is not a happy, joyous, glory filled ending but their destiny is too terrible to imagine.
God’s final solution is far more horrible that the gas chambers and ovens of Hitler’s death camps. God’s final solution, borne of His wrath against the sin and evil that has broken the laws of Heaven, is eternal, without end.
Revelation 20:11-15, "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
I know that Satan is having his way with humanity at this present time but rest assured, his days are numbered. He is doing everything within his power to destroy every soul and to annihilate mankind. He has done all he can to thwart God’s plan for the end but he cannot succeed, so he only gets more angry and more determined to destroy everything that is good and holy before his time comes.
I know that in our modern day churches there isn’t much teaching on judgment and on the horrors of hell anymore. In fact, most of the modern denominational doctrines have gone so far as to say that Hell doesn’t even exist as a real place. Even some of our most recognized “preachers of the gospel” have begun to deny that Hell exists as a real place of punishment for sin.
I don’t want to be found guilty of being one of those who fail to warn people about the reality of the Lake of Fire so I must let you know that it does exist and that it is a very real place.
The Bible says that we should let every word be established from the mouth of two or three witnesses. Let me tell you that Hell is real and the Bible speaks about it and about its terrible, eternal pain for all those who go there, not just in two or three places but in hundreds of places throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
I remember one instance when I was much younger and attending a church that isn’t very far from where I stand right now. It was in one of our Sunday evening services that the Spirit of God began to really move in the church and people were praising and worshipping God in spirit and in truth as the Word of God commands. (today many churches don’t even have Sunday evening services anymore because of the lack of commitment of God’s people to God’s House. I wonder how many blessings people are missing, how much less of God’s Word they will hear; or how many will not make Heaven their home because they can’t or won’t come to church at any other time and will never hear the message of the gospel?)
There were many praying around the altars at the front of the church and there were several who had been “slain in the spirit” and were just lying on the floor praying and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to them.
Suddenly, from one side of the altar area, there was a loud scream that was frightening in its intensity as though someone had been shot. As we turned to see who had screamed we discovered that it was the pastor’s wife. She was lying on the floor on her back with her hands outstretched toward heaven but it wasn’t Heaven that made her scream.
As we watched, each time she would lift her hands, the skin on her hands and arms would begin to turn red as they went up. That’s when she would begin to scream! As she lowered her arms the redness would leave. She repeated this a few times before stopping altogether.
After some time she was able to get up and that’s when we found out what was happening to her. She had been praying for God to allow her to sense and feel the pain of Hell’s flames so that she would never forget it and would ever be mindful of Hell’s existence. God had answered her prayer and none of us have ever forgotten that night.
God’s Final Solution will come at the end of the Church Age when the last battle against Satan and the powers of darkness will have deceived the last remnants of the human race to right against God in one final all-out effort to defeat God. Perhaps Satan knows he cannot win this battle so his real purpose is not to defeat God, or he may be so deceived that he still thinks he can win but I think not. In any case, I know that he will do everything he can to destroy man who is created in God’s image and this will be his last great opportunity to bring souls to hell with him.
After Satan has done his best and every man has made his choice and God says that the time for Satan’s reign has come to an end, then we will see the things come to pass that John saw “in the spirit” in the verses that we have just read.
Notice that this is not the Judgment Seat of Christ for that has already been completed. At that judgment, only those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior will stand and give account of the works that they have done in this life. At that time, we who love the Lord and who choose to serve Him, will stand receive our reward and we will already be enjoying the beauty and wonders of Heaven before God’s Final Solution against sin and sinners will take place.
Now, at this judgment, known as the Great White Throne Judgment, God will finally put an end to all that have lived in rebellion against Him, both of men and of angels. Every power of darkness shall be utterly brought down for the last time while we who love righteousness and justice will stand on the sidelines and sing praises to the Righteous Judge who makes all things right.
The scene that is before us now is both wondrous and terrifying – wondrous to those that love Him and terrifying to those who will have to stand before Him!
The glory and majesty of Almighty God is so powerful that his throne is immersed and bathed in light that is brighter than a thousand suns. His holiness and righteousness shines forth in power and perfection that brings instant conviction and guilt to any who are not holy before Him.
His face is so bright with His glory that the earth and all of creation simply dissolve before Him and are seen no more for they have no glory before Him. Every law of the Universe, such as gravity, physics, mathematics, time, etc., all cease to exist at the appearance of the Law Giver and Creator of all things.
…And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
John saw that every man who had rejected God had to stand, one by one, before the Judge of the Universe. One by one they walked forward to stand all alone for there was no one to blame, no one to point fingers at, and no one who could answer for them. Each one had to answer for his/her self.
Each one stood there, already knowing of their guilt. They already knew what their destiny would be and yet they must face the Judge and hear their sentence for that is required by His justice.
On that terrible day there was no one who would be sympathetic to their pain, their fear, their tears of sorrow. The time for repentance was long over now and there was no turning back or changing the outcome.
Even those who were standing around the Throne of God, clothed in robes of righteousness, who may have known the guilty sinner standing there will have to pity, no sorrow and will offer no help. Instead they will stand there praising God and giving God glory for His righteous judgment as their own sons and daughters and members of their own churches are condemned to the regions of the damned one by one. As each one is bound hand and foot and cast into the flames of Hell, a shout of praise will break forth among the Righteous for God has finally brought justice for sin and rebellion and those who refused to repent are dealt justice at last.
The praise that goes forth won’t be just for those who were hardened criminals, mass murderers, serial killers, war criminals and such but will be for every one because in the requirements of God’s Law there is no difference between crimes now. Every sin is the same as all sin and each one is punished with equal punishment.
When death comes upon this mortal body, the spirit is separated from the body. Those who die in Christ have their spirit taken into the realms of glory and the presence of Christ while those who die in sin have their spirits taken into the regions of the damned where there is crying, screaming, pain and sorrow. We cannot begin to imagine the sounds, sights and smells of that place. If God would allow the lid to come off for a moment and let us see that place in all its horror I don’t think that we would ever fail to obey Him again but that would be unfair to all who never caught that glimpse. The place of the damned is called Hades, another term for Hell.
The scripture says that Hades, the grave and the sea give up their dead to stand before God. Every person who has ever died in sin at sea and never been buried will arise to judgment. Every person who has ever died in sin and been buried in the ground will be reunited with their bodies once again to come forth for judgment. The spirit and body of every sinner will once again be reunited to stand before the Great White Throne Judgment of God.
There they will stand to hear their final sentence of death. Now is come the time for the SECOND DEATH!
The FIRST DEATH was when the soul was separated from the body for a little while until they were to be reunited in resurrection. In the first death there is a resurrection, in the second death there is no resurrection – no coming back. In the first death the body is destroyed in time and the soul is alive either in Heaven or in Hades, but in the second death, both the body and the soul are destroyed throughout eternity.
The first death means separation of the body and soul for a season. The second death means a separation of the body and soul from God forever.
All men are destined, except those who go in the rapture of the church, to face the first death, but not all will face the second death!
The Books will be opened and a search will begin to see if the name of each sinner is written there. If their name was never written in the Book of Life or if that name has been erased due to backsliding and forsaking God, then they will hear those terrible words come from the lips of the Righteous Judge, “bind them hand and foot and cast them into the Lake of Fire.”
…And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
At that great judgment God will not only cast every sinful man into the Lake of Fire. Satan, every demon, evil spirit, the Antichrist and the False Prophet of the Great Tribulation will already be there too. Death will have no more power and it too shall be cast into the Lake of Fire. The Grave will cease to exist and it too shall be cast into the Lake of Fire.
Those who are cast into hell will have some great company through all eternity won’t they?
There will be no love there! There will be no comfort there! You will cease to exist as anyone who is cared for, loved or concerned about there! You will be a forgotten and separated being who will exist only to be punished for ever and ever and ever! What a terrible future to behold!
God’s Final Solution to the power of the Devil and of sin is to punish them both forever in the Lake of Fire. That’s why the Lake of Fire was created in the beginning, not for you and I, but for Satan and his fallen angels.
My friend, my message to you this day is that you don’t have to go there! You don’t have to face those flames of the Lake of Fire! You don’t have to be separated from everything and everyone that is loved for eternity! You can spend your eternity in the glories of Heaven!
The choice is yours! Which will it be? It sounds like such a simple choice and yet the scripture says that there be only a few by comparison who will choose to enter Heaven. Most will experience the horrors that I have described and even worse because to now choose Christ is to choose the Lake of Fire by default.
Make your choice now and make it final! Like I have heard them say on the show, “Who wants to be a Millionaire”, is that your final answer? Let your final answer be, “Yes Lord, I will accept you. Yes Lord I will live for You! Yes Lord, I want to be in the first resurrection to live in Heaven with you.”
Make your choice and make it final. Don’t ever turn back lest your name be erased from the Book of Life like so many others have done!
WE WILL SPEND ETERNITY WITH GOD IN HEAVEN OR IN THE LAKE OF FIRE WITH SATAN DEPENDING UPON THE CHOICE WE MAKE IN THIS LIFE!
