PP0460 DATE
THE CONSEQUENCE OF IGNORING
GOD’S WARNINGS!
Lu 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Lu 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (KJV)
INTRODUCTION: Vs. 21 carries a heavy consequence with it. 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (KJV)
Imagine yourself in the fire of hell forever and ever. Go home today and turn your kitchen stove burner on and let it get red hot. After it is red hot place your hand on it and leave it there all day and all night. What ever the torment that would be it would be nothing compared to the torment of Hell. Hell is real and actual. It is functioning this very minute. There are millions and millions of people screaming in the torments of hell as I speak. Everyone of them will still be there 10 million years from now. There is nothing that can bring about an escape for them. They are trapped. Their residency in hell is permanent and eternal. If we could somehow roll back the earth and look into the pits of hell we would see those who are eternally paying for their soul. The only way they could have avoided it is to have made their preparation while in this life. To wait until after death is too late, and is also complete doom. Because we can’t see hell in action and hear the noise we seem to forget about it. That does’t change one thing about the reality of Hell.
There is a consequence of ignoring God’s warnings.
I. THE CONSEQUENCE OF DYING WITHOUT CHRIST!
“Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:” What that is saying is this: You will have to pay for your soul. Money won’t buy it – enegry won’t buy it – hoping won’t buy it – intention won’t buy it. Every soul will either be paid for by the blood of Christ or an eternity of suffering in hell. Think about that stove – only thing different is your whole body buring for all eternity. Never a moment of relief. When an unsaved soul dies it is the greatest of all tragadies.
Re 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV)
These two verses tell us that every person who does not have their name written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. That is not fiction, nor fable, it is truth. Every unsaved person alive right now are headed for that lake of fire, if they don’t get saved first.
A. His Wealth Did Him No Good.
He wasn’t a fool because of bad business ventures. He was a fool because he rejected the love of God. 1Jo 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (KJV)
He was very wealthy, yet it did him no good in eternity. Eternity is not about wealth and collecting things, rather about what a person does with the warning from God about their soul.
B. His Intellect Did Him No Good.
He wasn’t a fool because of the lack of intelligence. He had collected a large amount of goods. He was a fool because He didn’t heed the warning of God. Notice he had nothing left after the satisfying of of the requirement for his soul. “: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? They weren’t going to be his. Why would anyone seek to collect large amount of earthly goods, at the cost of their own soul?
There is nothing that can satisfy the cry of his soul now.
Listen to the rich man in Luke 16.
Lu 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. (KJV)
Notice the termanology used in this passage of Scripture:
“Being in torment” – Notice this “He cried” – Then notice “Have mercy on me” That tells us two things; one, there is no mercy in hell; second, there is torture, pain and suffering in hell.
He asked for just one drop of water on his tongue. I am tormented in this flame. There is no water in hell.
A great gulf is fixed so there will be no leaving it once a person gets there. No way to escape after arriving there. How could anyone ignore such a place as Hell? How could anyone not be concerned about their soul and the fact that they will be in hell someday unless they come to the Savior?
Every lost person – lost without Christ will someday be in hell for all eternity. They need do nothing else to insure them of their journey to hell. They are headed for hell as sure as if they were already there. Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (KJV) The word “believeth” used here means to have placed your trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Those who have not done that are already condemned to hell. Nothing else will be done they are on a sure path to the place of fire. The only thing that will advert that is to trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
You can reject God just so long, and then He will require your soul to be paid for. How foolish this man was. He was taken – or consumed with material possessions and it cost him his soul, yet he had nothing left with which to satisfy his soul.
Do you know what worries me? There are church members who will be “That fool”.
There are spouses of church members who will be “That fool.” They are going to ignore the call and warning of their soul’s destination until it is too late, and then they will be in the burning lake of fire. There are children of some of our church members who are ignoring the call of God for salvation. They are on the road to hell.
There may well be some moms and dads who are members of this church that will be in hell someday.
Every time you drive by a church – God is warning you.
Every time you see a cross displyed – God is warning you.
Every time you hear a gospel song – God is warning you.
There is a great consequence for dying without Christ.
II. THE CONSEQUENCE OF UNCONFESSED SIN!
Sin when finished - Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (KJV) It can’t be escaped – it can’t be changed. It will come to pass.
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)
The consequence of unconfessed sin is a horrible thing.
A. It Will Affect You In This Life.
Sin will stop you from serving God. When a person or a family drops out of church and stops living for and serving God it will because of sin.
Every Christian that is setting on the sideline and not serving God is doing so because of unconfessed sin. It will bring heartache. It will bring confusion. It will bring sickness. It will bring death – graveyard death.
Sin will take you farther than you intended to go;
It will keep you longer than you intended to stay;
It will cost you far more than you intended to pay.
Unconfessed sin will eventually bring death to the believer. 1Jo 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (KJV)
God is very longsuffering. He loves everyone and has mercy and grace that is unmeasurable. He will forgive and forgive. However, if a person insists on ignoring the expectation of God, and insists on having his own will exercised over the will of God. Then God can put into action the “sin unto death”. And that could mean that the very next sin a person commits could be the one that would bring death to that person. God is longsuffering to the unmeasurable point, but He is also just,which means that He will keep His word and when the sin of a believer has gone beyond God’s point of mercy then He allows death to come to that person.
Some would ask, “When does that sin come?” No one knows. It could be early in the span of activity of that sin or it could be years and years. No one knows. That’s why every Christian should confess sin immediately. Don’t take changes with God.
B. It Affects You In Life After Death.
Ro 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (KJV)
If you go out of this life with sin that is unconfessed you will have to give an account of it before the Great Judge.
Suppose that we were going to have a contest between the men to see who could jump a rope the longest amount of time. We were going to give each man 6 months to prepare for the contest. All of the guys on the staff set a schedule for the training time. Each one works and works for six months. Finally the day of the contest comes. We have a big day planned here at the church. Games, fellowship, lunch outside and then the big event. We go out to the parking lot and we each one get our rope and start jumping. I start jumping, but after 2 minutes I quit, I’m exhausted. I can barely breath and someone has to help me over to a chair to set down. The other guys keep on going and going and going (like the Every Ready battery bunny) one hour – two hours – on and on.
Let’s evaluate this. Every one on the men goes for 2 or 3 hours, maybe 4. I go for only 2 minutes. What happened? It would be easy to see what happened – I wasted the 6 months of preparation time. I paid no attention to the training schedule – I did my own thing – I didn’t train – so consequently I could only go 2 minutes.
What will be the evaluation from you, the congregation? You will know that I wasted my training time. Let’s say that the deacons were the judges of this. They will not bring me before the congregation and humiliate me by asking why I could not go longer. It will be very evident why I couldn’t stay up with the others. I blew it. I wasted my opportunity to prepare.
That is exactly what unconfessed sin will do to you in the Judgment Seat of Christ. Rewards will be handed out to those who were faithful in their service. Those who weren’t faithful and who had harbored sin in their heart will receive no rewards. The Lord will not bring those who have no rewards before the universe and scold them. He won’t have to do that. Everyone will know exactly why there were no rewards. There is only one reason why rewards are lost – unconfessed sin and refusing to repent.
So when you tell God that you will live your life the way you want to then expect a severe consequence to take place. You may say, “I never tell God I am going to live my life the way I choose.” O yes you do. When you skip church just because you don’t want to come you are telling God, “I will live my life the way I choose.” When you allow some non-emergency reason to take you away from the attendance of church and Sunday School you are sayng, “I will live my life any way I choose.” When you decide to go out of town every other week or so you are saying, “I will live my life any way I chose.”
When you don’t bring your tithe and give it to God, you are saying it again.
When you fail to witness to others about the saving grace of God, you are saying it again.
When you get angry at another person and harbor that in your heart for a year – two years – or ten years, or even 5 minutes, then you are saying it again.
When you refuse to pick up the Bible and read it daily you are saying it again. Anytime that you exercise your will over the will of God you are saying to Him, “I will live my life the way I choose.” When you say that you could be opening yourself up to the condemnation of the Sin unto Death.
There is a great consequence for unconfessed sin.
Turn to 1 Cor. 3.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (Salvation)
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (KJV)
There will be a lot of Christians in heaven just ahead of the fire. They just barely got there, but that’s it. No reward. No crowns. Just present.
You say, “That’s all I want, to just barely get in.” That’s not true. A real Christian wants to serve God – Live for Him – Witness for Him – Be obedient unto Him – Praise Him – Read His Bible – Pray to Him. If your ambition is to just get inside the gate, then you missed out on Bible salvation. All you have is false hope. Nothing real about your experience at all.
When a person gets saved their heart is turned to God. The heart begins to crave and long for the things of God. A saved heart wants to read the Bible – A saved heart wants to tell others about His Son – a saved heart wants to be obedient to His word – A saved heart want to do all that he possbily can do for the Lord. Ps 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. (KJV)
III. THE CONSEQUENCE OF AN UNSURRENDERED WILL!
A. Unsurrendered To Service.
There are active members of this church who will weep before the Judgment Seat of Christ because your will was not surrendered to God. You will not be in eternity 5 minutes until you will say, “Why, why, why, did I not give myself to doing the will of God.”
Some won’t even take your turn in the nursery. You will weep someday.
Some won’t come and participate in the work days we have here at church.
Only a few will respond to visiting our community and help evangelize the lost.
Some have not yet surrendered to giving to Faith Promise Missions.
We have choir members who won’t come to choir practice. Others are always arriving late after the choir is nearly half through practicing.
We have Sunday School teachers who don’t come to teacher’s meeting on Wed PM. There are teachers who do not visit for their class in trying to make it grow.
There will be a consequence.
B. Unsurrendered To Separation.
We have some who refuse to surrender to the standards of this church. They say that their standards are different than the churches. We know that, but that doesn’t make any difference. You should surrender yourself nonetheless. It will not be easy to try to convince the Lord why you were not surrendered to His will, no matter what your conviction is.
Most churches have lost the battle in this matter of personal separation. Not many Baptist churches still maintain good, clean, godly standards among the membership. Most members have thrown the godly habits, and dress expectations out the window, and have settled into the world’s pattern for dress and habits. There is a consequence for doing that.
C. Unsurrendered To Soulwinning.
We have all been given the command to go and reach others for Christ. This is not an optional decision that each of us can make for ourselves. It is the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be a consequence to all of those who do not participate in observing this command.
Every Christian in this room knows enough of the Word of God to tell another person how to get saved. Everyone in this room knows that it should be a priority for each of us. Just tell them how you got saved. How your heart was burdened with your sin, and you were under conviction and you came to the Lord repenting of your sin and asked Him to forgive you and to save you and He did. Share that with others, and some of them will listen and respond to your testimony.
There will be a consequence for not participating.
Most have taken the attitude that it doesn’t do any good to talk to people because they always refuse or don’t respond. That is the wrong approach. We don’t have to account for the amount of success, we only account for being obedient to the call of God to go.
May all of us have total recall in this matter of realizing there is a consequence for ignoring God’s expectations.
INVITATION
BETH HAVEN BAPTIST CHURCH MINISTRIES
PO BOX 891523
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73189-1523
405-691-8701
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If interested contact the above address.
