Hello and welcome. It is so good to see your smiling faces 00:00:52.65\00:00:56.32 here today. And we want to welcome those of you who are 00:00:56.52\00:00:59.52 watching by television or Internet or who are listening 00:00:59.62\00:01:03.02 on the radio as well. We're so glad that you could 00:01:03.22\00:01:05.29 join us today. I have the privilege of speaking with you 00:01:05.49\00:01:09.16 this hour and I have two purposes. 00:01:09.36\00:01:11.67 Number one: we are going to focus 00:01:11.97\00:01:14.64 on a lie. We're going to focus on a lie 00:01:14.94\00:01:18.57 that entered the church around 200 AD 00:01:18.77\00:01:22.04 and has become a tradition - not only in the Catholic church 00:01:22.34\00:01:26.08 but it has become a tradition in the Protestant church. 00:01:26.38\00:01:30.95 Most Protestants believe this lie. 00:01:31.45\00:01:34.12 And it is a lie that assassinates the character 00:01:34.62\00:01:38.13 of God. So today we're going to defend God's character 00:01:38.33\00:01:42.73 as we discuss this. 00:01:42.96\00:01:44.77 I was telling the group here earlier 00:01:45.07\00:01:47.37 that at 3ABN we have to have 00:01:47.74\00:01:50.94 our program titles - our presentation titles - 00:01:51.14\00:01:55.28 in a little ahead of time so they can publish 00:01:55.38\00:01:57.48 these on the Internet and put it in print. 00:01:57.68\00:01:59.58 And so usually you end up - for me, anyway - 00:02:00.05\00:02:03.69 I'm giving a title before I have a presentation. 00:02:03.89\00:02:06.05 And I had prayed and the Lord gave me 00:02:06.35\00:02:08.96 the title Love's Justice. 00:02:09.16\00:02:12.56 So that's the title that I gave them. 00:02:13.60\00:02:15.70 Well, we've been so busy and as I said, I've been 00:02:16.20\00:02:19.50 operating like a hummingbird on steroids lately, 00:02:19.60\00:02:22.17 that it wasn't until last Friday that the Lord gave me 00:02:22.47\00:02:25.24 the message to go with that title. 00:02:25.44\00:02:28.18 So that's what we'll be discussing today 00:02:28.38\00:02:30.35 is Love's Justice. 00:02:30.65\00:02:32.61 But first before we do that I want to invite out my pastor 00:02:32.91\00:02:36.08 John Lomacang. And you know, John is a magnificent speaker. 00:02:36.28\00:02:41.29 He's a manservant of God 00:02:41.39\00:02:43.29 but he also has a beautiful beautiful music ministry. 00:02:43.59\00:02:48.30 And you're going to be singing a Steven Green song 00:02:48.60\00:02:51.43 I Will Go. Thank you, John. 00:02:51.63\00:02:54.00 Give me ears to hear Your Spirit; 00:03:22.40\00:03:27.90 give me feet to follow through. 00:03:28.20\00:03:33.34 Give me hands to touch the hurting 00:03:33.64\00:03:39.48 and the faith to follow You. 00:03:39.78\00:03:45.72 Give me grace to be a servant; 00:03:49.32\00:03:55.26 give me mercy for the lost. 00:03:55.56\00:04:00.84 Give me passion for Your glory; 00:04:01.24\00:04:06.78 give me passion for the cross. 00:04:07.18\00:04:13.35 I will go where there are no easy roads; 00:04:13.65\00:04:19.05 leave the comfort that I know. 00:04:19.35\00:04:24.56 I will go 00:04:24.86\00:04:26.90 and let this journey be my guide. 00:04:27.10\00:04:31.07 I will go... 00:04:31.37\00:04:34.64 I will go. 00:04:36.54\00:04:42.08 I'll let go of my ambition; 00:04:53.09\00:04:58.99 cut the roots that run too deep. 00:04:59.33\00:05:04.70 I will learn to give away 00:05:05.00\00:05:10.54 what I cannot really keep... 00:05:10.94\00:05:15.91 what I cannot 00:05:16.21\00:05:19.48 really keep. 00:05:19.68\00:05:23.49 Help me see 00:05:23.85\00:05:27.66 with eyes of faith; 00:05:27.96\00:05:31.73 give me strength 00:05:32.03\00:05:35.10 to run this race. 00:05:35.30\00:05:38.73 And I will go 00:05:38.93\00:05:40.97 where there are no easy roads; 00:05:41.07\00:05:45.54 leave the comfort that I know. 00:05:45.84\00:05:51.08 I will go 00:05:51.41\00:05:53.31 and let this journey be my guide. 00:05:53.42\00:05:57.45 I will go... 00:05:57.75\00:06:00.32 yes, I will go. 00:06:00.62\00:06:03.66 I will go, Lord, where 00:06:04.06\00:06:07.46 Your glory is unknown; 00:06:07.66\00:06:10.47 I will live for You alone. 00:06:10.97\00:06:15.80 I will go because 00:06:16.27\00:06:19.74 my life is not my own. 00:06:20.08\00:06:23.14 I will go... 00:06:23.45\00:06:26.45 I will go... 00:06:28.35\00:06:34.29 I will 00:06:36.39\00:06:39.69 go. 00:06:39.89\00:06:45.77 Amen! Thank you, John, for that beautiful song 00:06:50.67\00:06:54.14 and that beautiful message. 00:06:54.34\00:06:55.68 And that's what we are talking about today 00:06:55.98\00:06:58.95 is going and sharing your faith. 00:06:59.15\00:07:02.12 You know, as we've been... How many of you enjoyed 00:07:02.62\00:07:05.55 last night that "barn burner" that Pastor Carter preached! 00:07:05.65\00:07:09.29 Amen! There've been some wonderful messages here 00:07:09.59\00:07:12.26 at Camp Meeting and we've got more wonderful messages 00:07:12.46\00:07:15.13 coming. But what I would like you to do right now 00:07:15.33\00:07:18.10 is to open your Bibles to John chapter 3. 00:07:18.30\00:07:21.70 John chapter 3. 00:07:22.00\00:07:23.91 Because what we are going to look at today 00:07:24.21\00:07:26.88 is not necessarily new to you in many aspects 00:07:27.28\00:07:32.01 but I want to place the focus on it today 00:07:32.31\00:07:35.42 so that you can share with others this wonderful wonderful 00:07:35.82\00:07:41.62 Biblical truth. And if you'll just keep your finger there 00:07:41.82\00:07:44.99 in John chapter 3 I would like to set up 00:07:45.19\00:07:48.96 the context of this message before we begin there. 00:07:49.26\00:07:52.53 But let's pray first. 00:07:52.93\00:07:54.44 Heavenly Father, once again we come before You in the name 00:07:54.94\00:07:57.47 of Jesus. And oh, Father, how we thank you 00:07:57.67\00:08:00.74 for the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 00:08:01.14\00:08:03.78 the gift of Your Holy Spirit, 00:08:04.08\00:08:05.75 and the gift of Your Word. 00:08:05.95\00:08:07.28 Oh Lord, we know we are saved by grace and we could never 00:08:07.45\00:08:10.52 save ourselves. But we are so grateful to You 00:08:10.62\00:08:13.89 for Your plan and for who You are. 00:08:14.09\00:08:16.02 And we praise You because You are worthy of praise. 00:08:16.42\00:08:18.83 Father, now our prayer is You will send Your Holy Spirit 00:08:19.33\00:08:22.83 to be our teacher. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit 00:08:23.13\00:08:26.43 has to say and give us a heart 00:08:26.67\00:08:29.70 that is willing to do what You ask us to do. 00:08:30.11\00:08:33.24 In Jesus' name, Amen. 00:08:33.58\00:08:35.34 You know, we all are aware that the Bible says in 00:08:36.18\00:08:40.12 I John 4:8 and 4:16 that God is love. 00:08:40.22\00:08:45.15 What does that mean? 00:08:45.45\00:08:46.86 The very essence of God's divine being 00:08:47.26\00:08:51.16 is self-sacrificing love. 00:08:51.46\00:08:55.66 As I was studying a couple of weeks ago 00:08:56.16\00:08:59.90 and focusing on one of my favorite scriptures 00:09:00.37\00:09:03.20 something suddenly occurred to me. 00:09:03.64\00:09:05.97 It is God's nature of self-sacrificing love 00:09:06.81\00:09:12.31 that establishes His holiness. 00:09:12.51\00:09:15.98 Don't let this go over your head. Let me repeat it. 00:09:16.48\00:09:19.72 It is God's nature of self-sacrificing love 00:09:20.19\00:09:25.46 that establishes His holiness. 00:09:25.66\00:09:28.40 His complete separation from sin. 00:09:28.70\00:09:32.40 Now did you know it is also His love 00:09:33.20\00:09:36.47 that will establish our holiness? 00:09:36.71\00:09:39.41 Our separation from the malice of sin? 00:09:39.71\00:09:42.38 I would like to show you - and the truck will bring this up - 00:09:42.68\00:09:45.48 that I Thessalonians 3... 00:09:46.31\00:09:49.75 chapter 3 and verses 12 and 13... 00:09:49.98\00:09:52.99 We won't take time to turn to every scripture today, 00:09:53.19\00:09:55.59 but I Thessalonians chapter 3 verses 12 and 13. 00:09:55.79\00:10:01.56 God's divine love establishes our hearts 00:10:02.20\00:10:06.33 blameless in holiness. 00:10:06.53\00:10:07.87 Paul writes to the Thessalonians and says: 00:10:08.04\00:10:09.87 Who's doing the work here? 00:10:19.28\00:10:20.68 The Lord. "May the Lord make you... " 00:10:21.65\00:10:24.69 may He cause you... "to increase and abound in love 00:10:24.79\00:10:29.06 just as we do to you and to others. " 00:10:29.26\00:10:31.66 How does God establish our hearts blameless in holiness? 00:10:50.58\00:10:54.95 Romans 5:5 says that He pours out His love 00:10:55.68\00:10:58.89 into our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:59.12\00:11:01.99 And as we open our hearts to Him 00:11:02.29\00:11:04.79 and say: "Lord pour out Your Holy Spirit into me" 00:11:04.99\00:11:07.93 the Spirit's not just the Spirit of holiness. 00:11:08.10\00:11:10.23 He is the Spirit of love... He is God; God is love. 00:11:10.53\00:11:14.40 So as this Holy Spirit... as He indwells us 00:11:14.90\00:11:19.87 this very nature of self-sacrificing love 00:11:20.18\00:11:24.28 enters into our heart and that is how God enables us. 00:11:24.48\00:11:28.22 He empowers us to love Him with all of our heart, 00:11:28.52\00:11:31.52 soul, mind, and strength and to love one another 00:11:31.72\00:11:35.36 as we love ourselves. 00:11:35.66\00:11:36.99 It is God's love - His self-sacrificing love - 00:11:37.23\00:11:41.63 that establishes His holiness. 00:11:41.93\00:11:44.97 And it is God's self-sacrificing love 00:11:45.27\00:11:48.30 that will establish our holiness. 00:11:48.50\00:11:51.47 Did you know that God's divine love 00:11:52.27\00:11:56.68 is a fire that consumes sin? 00:11:57.08\00:12:01.75 When the Israelites in Exodus chapter 4 00:12:02.85\00:12:05.72 when they witnessed the glory of the Lord on the mountain 00:12:06.02\00:12:09.66 it was like a consuming fire. 00:12:10.43\00:12:14.40 And in Hebrews 12:29 it says 00:12:14.73\00:12:18.17 "For indeed our God is a consuming fire. " 00:12:18.57\00:12:23.37 J.D. - my husband... we had a burn pit built. 00:12:25.01\00:12:30.51 When he mows the lawn... Sometimes we travel so much 00:12:31.55\00:12:34.22 that the lawn will get up quite a ways. He'll mow the lawn. 00:12:34.52\00:12:37.79 If he just allows it to lay on the ground, 00:12:38.09\00:12:40.72 the grass underneath it gets brown. 00:12:40.99\00:12:42.76 So he rakes it up and he puts this dry grass 00:12:43.16\00:12:46.13 into the burn pit. 00:12:46.53\00:12:48.46 He tosses in a match and suddenly the fire just goes 00:12:48.76\00:12:53.80 froom... the grass is consumed. 00:12:54.00\00:12:57.44 That's the way God's love is. All right! 00:12:58.34\00:13:01.24 The nature of God's love - His self-sacrificing love - 00:13:01.51\00:13:05.91 consumes sin. And this is why people cannot stand 00:13:06.21\00:13:10.49 in the presence of a holy God. 00:13:10.69\00:13:13.02 Why God said: "They can't see Me face to face... 00:13:13.22\00:13:15.59 not till you're covered with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. " 00:13:15.79\00:13:19.66 Divine love makes God good, virtuous, incorruptible, 00:13:20.10\00:13:23.63 righteous, trustworthy, patient, 00:13:23.83\00:13:26.80 kind, filled with tender mercies and humble. 00:13:27.00\00:13:31.24 You know, I marvel at the humility of the trinity. 00:13:31.54\00:13:36.41 When Jesus Christ was on earth 00:13:36.71\00:13:39.01 He walked in absolute surrender to the Father. 00:13:39.21\00:13:43.35 He did all things to bring glory to the Father. 00:13:43.55\00:13:45.99 He only spoke what the Father said to speak; 00:13:46.29\00:13:48.09 He only did what the Father said to do. 00:13:48.29\00:13:51.73 He worked in perfect cooperation with the Father 00:13:52.13\00:13:55.00 never competing with Him. 00:13:55.30\00:13:57.10 Then when He sent the Holy Spirit the Bible tells us 00:13:57.30\00:14:00.57 that the Holy Spirit does not compete for glory with Jesus. 00:14:00.77\00:14:05.54 He brings all glory to Jesus 00:14:05.74\00:14:07.91 and the Father gives glory to the Son. 00:14:08.21\00:14:10.88 The self-sacrificing love of God 00:14:11.28\00:14:15.52 is the foundation of His character, 00:14:15.92\00:14:19.85 His creation, and His sovereignty. 00:14:20.26\00:14:23.09 God is sovereign because 00:14:23.43\00:14:28.43 He is our Creator who inhabits eternity. 00:14:28.73\00:14:32.63 He is self-existing; He is eternal; 00:14:33.03\00:14:36.60 He is omnipotent... all powerful. 00:14:36.91\00:14:39.34 He is omniscient... all knowing. 00:14:39.64\00:14:41.58 And He is omnipresent... He is everywhere. 00:14:41.88\00:14:46.38 So God - to insure the honor and stability of His righteous 00:14:46.78\00:14:52.29 government - He legislated righteous moral laws 00:14:52.49\00:14:57.39 because He intends for His people to live 00:14:57.69\00:15:01.46 in a loving and harmonious community. 00:15:01.66\00:15:04.93 And these laws that He legisla- ted are for our own protection. 00:15:05.33\00:15:08.84 And they're actually promises of something that God will do 00:15:09.24\00:15:12.01 in us and for us if we are in covenant relationship with Him. 00:15:12.21\00:15:16.38 Therefore conformity to those laws 00:15:16.95\00:15:20.75 is required and justice is required. 00:15:20.95\00:15:24.89 We often say that the great controversy is the battle 00:15:25.19\00:15:28.39 between good and evil. I want to expand our thinking 00:15:28.49\00:15:31.86 today. The great controversy 00:15:32.16\00:15:34.60 is the battle between self-sacrificing love 00:15:34.83\00:15:39.77 and love of self. 00:15:40.10\00:15:42.87 You are familiar with Ezekiel 28 where the Bible is 00:15:43.77\00:15:48.84 speaking of Lucifer and how he was created perfect 00:15:49.04\00:15:52.95 in wisdom, perfect in beauty. 00:15:53.25\00:15:55.75 He was an anointed cherub. 00:15:55.95\00:15:58.32 But then Isaiah 14 shows that Lucifer 00:15:58.85\00:16:04.06 started... with all of this beauty and his majesty... 00:16:04.26\00:16:07.23 began to be lifted up in his heart and he said: 00:16:07.40\00:16:11.53 "I will ascend... " "I will exalt my throne... " 00:16:11.83\00:16:15.87 "I will be like the Most High God. " 00:16:16.07\00:16:19.07 Do you realize that the power - 00:16:19.84\00:16:24.15 the hellish power of pride - 00:16:24.31\00:16:27.15 has a Satanic origin? 00:16:27.35\00:16:29.52 The hellish power of pride is the working of self love. 00:16:29.92\00:16:35.86 It is absolutely opposite 00:16:36.06\00:16:39.69 to divine, self-sacrificing love and the humility of God. 00:16:40.00\00:16:44.23 It is something that... This pride will cause 00:16:44.57\00:16:50.07 people to have self-exaltation and rebel against God. 00:16:50.37\00:16:54.81 And that is exactly what Lucifer did. 00:16:55.01\00:16:57.45 So the great controversy is between self-sacrificing love 00:16:57.95\00:17:02.58 of God and self love. 00:17:02.68\00:17:05.39 It is between humility and pride. 00:17:05.69\00:17:09.16 It is between good and evil. 00:17:09.46\00:17:11.99 Satan, being the father of all lies as Jesus called him, 00:17:12.39\00:17:15.80 maligned God's character. 00:17:16.10\00:17:18.60 He distorted the truth saying that God was unfair, 00:17:19.00\00:17:22.87 unjust... that God was selfish. 00:17:23.07\00:17:25.97 And he deceived other created beings 00:17:26.27\00:17:28.68 and we know 1/3 of the angels followed him, didn't they? 00:17:28.98\00:17:32.71 But did you know 00:17:33.05\00:17:34.38 that he came to earth to start a rebellion here? 00:17:34.68\00:17:39.92 And what did he do? In the Garden of Eden 00:17:40.79\00:17:43.83 he perpetrated a lie against God 00:17:44.03\00:17:46.49 indicating that God was selfish, unfair, unjust. 00:17:46.80\00:17:51.97 And he said to the woman: "Did God really say 00:17:52.27\00:17:56.30 you cannot eat of the trees of the garden? " 00:17:56.44\00:17:58.47 And she says: "Oh, no... just this one tree. 00:17:58.87\00:18:01.38 And if we do we'll die. " 00:18:01.78\00:18:04.28 But the lie that Satan perpetrated was: 00:18:04.58\00:18:07.38 "You will be like God and you shall not surely die. " 00:18:07.58\00:18:13.39 This is a lie that he is per- petrating in the church today. 00:18:13.79\00:18:18.66 You know, sin is habit forming 00:18:19.16\00:18:22.13 and it is a contagious condition. 00:18:22.23\00:18:24.50 In the fallen nature of man after that first sin we find 00:18:24.80\00:18:28.84 that everyone has become a sinner and fallen short 00:18:29.07\00:18:31.81 of the glory of God's self-sacrificing love. 00:18:32.11\00:18:37.65 The God of divine love and love's justice 00:18:38.05\00:18:40.95 suddenly faced this dilemma of sin and salvation. 00:18:41.15\00:18:45.45 Created beings... He had weighed them in the balance 00:18:46.42\00:18:49.32 of His divine justice. He found them wanting. 00:18:49.62\00:18:54.30 God hates sin. He cannot bear what sin does... the pain 00:18:54.73\00:19:00.27 and the suffering that it brings to the citizens of His kingdom 00:19:00.47\00:19:03.84 who are victimized by sin. 00:19:04.14\00:19:06.51 He declares that sin is deserving of punishment 00:19:07.01\00:19:10.38 and justice demands judgment and punishment 00:19:10.48\00:19:15.48 of those who are guilty of breaking His law. 00:19:15.68\00:19:17.92 God is just and He executes justice in righteousness. 00:19:18.79\00:19:23.02 Love's justice is totally fair. 00:19:23.56\00:19:25.86 It is perfect in every respect. 00:19:26.19\00:19:28.60 So let me ask you this question: 00:19:28.90\00:19:30.47 how does the Lord of justice - 00:19:30.87\00:19:34.27 the ultimate Judge of all of the earth 00:19:34.47\00:19:36.91 who always makes righteous judgments without partiality 00:19:37.21\00:19:41.61 judging each person according to their own actions - 00:19:41.84\00:19:44.85 how does this Creator - 00:19:45.15\00:19:47.12 our Creator of infinite benevolence 00:19:47.52\00:19:51.15 whose loving hearts wants all men to be saved - 00:19:51.45\00:19:55.49 how does He reconcile His justice and His mercy? 00:19:55.79\00:20:00.40 How does this just God satisfy justice 00:20:01.10\00:20:05.67 and pardon man's sin at the same time 00:20:05.87\00:20:08.20 so that He can remain consistent with His perfect nature? 00:20:09.14\00:20:12.67 How fortunate we are that love's justice is two-sided. 00:20:13.27\00:20:18.61 On the one side you have paternal, fatherly justice 00:20:19.11\00:20:24.15 that provides grace, mercy, and pardon. 00:20:24.45\00:20:28.32 On the other side we have avenging justice 00:20:28.62\00:20:32.43 and this metes out merited punishment. 00:20:32.73\00:20:36.03 So we're going to look at paternal justice first 00:20:36.33\00:20:39.17 and then we're going to get to John chapter 3, I promise. 00:20:39.57\00:20:42.14 In His holiness and righteous- ness God cannot overlook sin. 00:20:42.44\00:20:46.27 Justice does not demand grace. 00:20:46.71\00:20:50.71 Ah, but we have a heavenly Father 00:20:51.11\00:20:54.48 whose heart overflows with love for us. 00:20:54.78\00:20:58.02 And because of His love He offers us this grace. 00:20:58.42\00:21:03.83 He offers us every good and perfect gift. Amen! 00:21:04.13\00:21:08.20 He sent His Son! 00:21:08.33\00:21:12.13 Roman 5:8 says that God demonstrated His love for us 00:21:12.33\00:21:16.04 by this: that He sent His Son to die for us 00:21:16.34\00:21:19.77 while we were yet sinners so that we could be given 00:21:19.97\00:21:24.01 the unearned, undeserved gift of grace called salvation. 00:21:24.21\00:21:28.75 Hallelujah! That is exciting. 00:21:29.05\00:21:31.89 Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross. 00:21:32.29\00:21:35.76 God caused the iniquity of us all 00:21:36.06\00:21:40.40 to fall on Him and He made Christ - who knew no sin - 00:21:40.60\00:21:44.80 to become sin for us 00:21:45.10\00:21:48.34 that we might become 00:21:48.54\00:21:51.17 the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 00:21:51.57\00:21:54.11 So love's justice on the one side... this paternal 00:21:54.44\00:21:58.85 Fatherly justice... offered Christ's righteousness 00:21:59.05\00:22:03.08 to sinners to deliver us from sin and save us by grace 00:22:03.28\00:22:06.89 as our substitute... your substitute... my substitute. 00:22:07.86\00:22:12.99 Christ bore our penalty of death. Yes He did! 00:22:13.29\00:22:17.73 Oh praise the Lord! 00:22:17.87\00:22:19.23 When He did this He reconciled us to God, making us 00:22:19.63\00:22:23.41 friends with God. Yes! And God's pardon to unholy sinners... 00:22:23.61\00:22:28.74 How many of you are unholy sinners? 00:22:29.04\00:22:31.21 God's pardon to unholy sinners - glory to God - 00:22:31.61\00:22:35.72 everybody's hand should have gone up - 00:22:35.85\00:22:37.39 is only because He secures our acquittal 00:22:38.62\00:22:44.59 from guilt by Christ's death. Yes! 00:22:44.79\00:22:50.70 By His divine grace He offers us the gift of 00:22:50.73\00:22:54.10 repentance, forgiveness, and salvation... all sealed 00:22:54.30\00:22:58.14 by the blood of Jesus. 00:22:58.24\00:22:59.87 Forgiving sinners by His grace does not 00:23:00.28\00:23:03.65 compromise His holy justice. 00:23:03.85\00:23:06.61 Christ's substitutionary death satisfied the demands 00:23:07.02\00:23:12.39 of the law and of justice 00:23:12.69\00:23:15.49 and it makes it consistent. By His death 00:23:15.92\00:23:19.09 when God came down to die for us 00:23:19.39\00:23:21.66 it makes it consistent for Him to remain a just God 00:23:21.86\00:23:26.60 and the justifier. So now with that background 00:23:26.80\00:23:30.81 let's look at John chapter 3. 00:23:31.01\00:23:33.58 This is a passage of Christ's words that are very familiar 00:23:33.78\00:23:37.31 to you. Most of you even at home will recognize 00:23:37.51\00:23:40.58 these scriptures. But what I want to show you 00:23:40.88\00:23:44.92 in this passage is that it begins with a parallel, 00:23:45.22\00:23:49.06 a parallelism - a corresponding truth - 00:23:49.36\00:23:52.29 and then Jesus speaks 00:23:52.49\00:23:54.93 a series of five juxtaposed statements. 00:23:55.10\00:23:59.83 Do you know what it means to juxtapose? 00:24:00.24\00:24:02.34 If I say "a juxtaposition? " Many of you do. 00:24:02.54\00:24:05.97 A juxtaposition is when you are putting up 00:24:06.17\00:24:09.91 one thing side by side with another thing 00:24:10.25\00:24:14.05 to show their contrast. 00:24:14.35\00:24:17.52 So for an example... I can't think of an example. 00:24:18.15\00:24:20.86 Let's say that I am... I'm 00:24:21.22\00:24:25.39 applying for a job at NASA. 00:24:25.59\00:24:28.66 And I go to NASA and I have my interview 00:24:29.06\00:24:32.30 and this guy really likes me and he says: "Hey, 00:24:32.60\00:24:35.30 I think she'd be a good fit around here. " 00:24:35.50\00:24:37.57 But then the director of human resources comes in 00:24:37.84\00:24:42.78 and he says: "Now wait a minute. 00:24:42.98\00:24:44.55 You know we had that other candidate earlier... " 00:24:44.85\00:24:47.08 And the big boss says: "Yeah, but I didn't like him. 00:24:47.38\00:24:51.35 He just wasn't very nice. She's nice. " 00:24:51.55\00:24:53.52 And he'll say: "Yes, but, his resume says 00:24:53.82\00:24:58.33 that he has a Ph. D. in applied mathematics. 00:24:58.53\00:25:01.96 Her resume says she doesn't even know her 00:25:03.26\00:25:07.14 multiplication tables. " Do you see the juxtaposition? 00:25:07.24\00:25:10.31 It's like here's one thing but the total contrast 00:25:10.71\00:25:13.98 is something else. Well we're going to look at some of those 00:25:14.08\00:25:16.78 in just a second. Let's start with John chapter 3 00:25:16.98\00:25:19.68 and verse 14. This is the parallel comparison 00:25:19.88\00:25:24.19 where there are corresponding truths. 00:25:24.29\00:25:26.42 John chapter 3 and verse 14. Jesus said: 00:25:26.76\00:25:29.39 So the snake and the pole were a 00:25:48.88\00:25:54.85 type of Christ's death on the cross. 00:25:55.05\00:25:58.09 It was a pre-figuring of Christ's death on the cross. 00:25:58.49\00:26:01.76 So we see those two statements are parallel. 00:26:02.16\00:26:05.63 Jesus said: "Just as this so is this. " 00:26:05.93\00:26:08.70 The snake on the pole... the Son of Man will be lifted up. 00:26:09.10\00:26:11.63 So those are parallel. But now He's going to give us 00:26:11.83\00:26:15.30 five juxtapositions. Let's look at verse 16. 00:26:15.50\00:26:20.38 Excuse me... I skipped verse 15. 00:26:20.78\00:26:23.65 Verse 15: 00:26:24.28\00:26:25.68 In the Greek that is appolumi 00:26:32.55\00:26:35.06 and it means to be utterly blotted out. 00:26:35.36\00:26:38.79 To vanish into nothingness; to be destroyed completely. 00:26:38.89\00:26:42.76 And so He says: 00:26:43.16\00:26:44.50 Do you see the juxtaposition there? 00:26:55.34\00:26:57.61 On the one side people are perishing; 00:26:57.91\00:27:00.95 on the other side they have eternal life. 00:27:01.05\00:27:03.52 These are strikingly different thoughts 00:27:04.32\00:27:06.69 of utter and permanent destruction 00:27:06.99\00:27:09.12 versus the unending future reality of eternal life. 00:27:09.32\00:27:12.56 It's either the way of death or the way of life. 00:27:12.86\00:27:15.80 And then in verse 16 He continues... 00:27:16.23\00:27:19.63 John 3 and verse 16. 00:27:19.83\00:27:21.77 This is His second juxtaposition. 00:27:22.07\00:27:25.21 Do you see again the marked contrast? 00:27:40.96\00:27:43.63 It's either utter and permanent destruction... 00:27:43.93\00:27:47.00 you're going to perish - appolumi... 00:27:47.20\00:27:49.40 or have eternal life. 00:27:49.70\00:27:52.07 You know, many Christian denominations... 00:27:52.80\00:27:54.74 and I was brought up in one... 00:27:54.94\00:27:56.44 teach that man has an immortal soul 00:27:56.87\00:28:02.84 and at death this soul goes either to heaven or to hell. 00:28:03.04\00:28:06.95 And they also teach that hell is an eternal torment. 00:28:07.45\00:28:11.52 One of conscious and constant torment. 00:28:11.92\00:28:16.59 This false teaching assassinates the character - 00:28:17.09\00:28:22.86 Amen! - of God - that's right. 00:28:23.16\00:28:25.20 How can heaven's God - 00:28:25.30\00:28:28.00 the God whose very essence is self-sacrificing love - 00:28:29.20\00:28:33.41 even be connected to that thought? 00:28:33.71\00:28:36.41 This lie alone has kept more people 00:28:37.48\00:28:42.62 at arm's length or even made them walk away from God. 00:28:42.82\00:28:47.06 Because to say that there is an eternal torment - 00:28:47.29\00:28:51.99 a conscious torment - 00:28:53.03\00:28:55.20 this makes heaven's God of infinite love 00:28:55.40\00:28:59.57 more sadistic, more... 00:29:01.84\00:29:06.31 it makes Him a sadistic dictator and tormentor. 00:29:07.04\00:29:10.58 Worse that Germany's Hitler, 00:29:10.88\00:29:15.32 Russia's Stalin, or Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge combined! 00:29:15.72\00:29:21.52 To think that God... I mean I grew up thinking... 00:29:21.82\00:29:24.99 I had a relative that I wasn't sure was going to make it 00:29:25.19\00:29:27.13 to heaven... And I grew up thinking 00:29:27.23\00:29:29.90 all my life that that relative was burning in hell 00:29:29.93\00:29:33.00 because as soon as you died you either went to heaven 00:29:33.87\00:29:36.64 or to hell. And I was troubled by that all my life 00:29:36.74\00:29:40.31 and I served the Lord out of fear. 00:29:40.71\00:29:43.28 I've been baptized four times. 00:29:43.58\00:29:45.51 Twice because I was just scared to death 00:29:45.81\00:29:48.28 I hadn't been baptized right. 00:29:48.38\00:29:49.85 I grew up in a church that taught... a different church... 00:29:50.29\00:29:53.05 I did not grow up an Adventist. 00:29:53.25\00:29:55.56 But a Sunday-keeping church that taught if you weren't 00:29:55.76\00:29:58.86 baptized just right you weren't going to make it. 00:29:58.96\00:30:01.56 So I got baptized a couple of times then. 00:30:01.96\00:30:04.13 Once because I joined a church that was a non-denominational 00:30:04.43\00:30:07.30 church that... They had been Baptist so when they switched to 00:30:07.40\00:30:11.71 non-denominational they still kept some practices. 00:30:11.91\00:30:14.41 So I just went down front to join the church and they 00:30:14.61\00:30:16.51 dunked me before I knew what happened. 00:30:16.61\00:30:18.15 But the last time that I was baptized - all right! - 00:30:19.15\00:30:22.18 I knew what it meant. 00:30:22.32\00:30:23.65 I knew that I was being buried with Christ. 00:30:23.79\00:30:26.29 It was symbolic that I was being buried with Christ 00:30:26.59\00:30:29.29 to raise up... as Romans 6 says... to walk in newness of 00:30:29.39\00:30:32.96 life. But before I served God out of fear. 00:30:33.06\00:30:38.53 Even then I was serving God out of fear. 00:30:39.67\00:30:41.77 You know, John wrote in I John chapter 4 and verse 18 00:30:42.17\00:30:45.11 "There's no fear in love 00:30:45.31\00:30:47.44 but perfect love casts out fear. " 00:30:47.74\00:30:52.31 Because fear involves torment. 00:30:52.51\00:30:55.35 This false teaching on hell 00:30:55.75\00:30:57.85 has caused many to become atheists because 00:30:58.05\00:31:01.19 they cannot reconcile the idea of "God is love" 00:31:01.39\00:31:05.76 and yet that God is a God of torment. 00:31:06.06\00:31:09.53 But as you have heard 00:31:10.33\00:31:13.13 Pastor Carter use several times in his presentations - 00:31:13.44\00:31:18.17 I already had it in my notes - 00:31:18.37\00:31:20.08 my cry is "sola scriptura. " 00:31:20.28\00:31:23.41 The Bible and the Bible only. 00:31:23.81\00:31:26.38 Let us go to the Bible to find out what the Bible has to say 00:31:26.68\00:31:30.85 about death, what the Bible has to say about hell, 00:31:30.95\00:31:33.92 what the Bible has to say about God's character. 00:31:34.12\00:31:37.89 We hold a precious truth... a Biblical truth. 00:31:38.39\00:31:42.13 The truth about the mortal soul. 00:31:42.43\00:31:46.43 The truth about hell. 00:31:46.53\00:31:48.34 And when I first found out... I wasn't even an Adventist 00:31:48.74\00:31:51.84 when I first found this out. 00:31:52.14\00:31:54.01 I was praying to God. He had already called me into 00:31:54.31\00:31:56.28 full-time ministry, and as I was praying to God one day 00:31:56.38\00:31:59.21 He impressed this thought upon me. 00:31:59.51\00:32:01.65 "Ask Me what you will. 00:32:01.95\00:32:04.12 Whatever is confusing you ask Me. " 00:32:04.42\00:32:07.16 And when I study that's how I'm studying. 00:32:07.36\00:32:09.22 I'm saying: "Lord, show me" if I've got a question. 00:32:09.52\00:32:13.16 Well when He said that I said: "OK, I do not understand 00:32:13.40\00:32:16.73 how You can be a God of love and torment somebody 00:32:16.93\00:32:19.53 through conscious torment throughout eternity. " 00:32:19.93\00:32:24.67 In fact, I said: "Lord, You're the Ancient of Days. 00:32:25.01\00:32:27.98 That would make other people like the Ancient of Days 00:32:28.08\00:32:30.41 if they had no beginning and no end. " 00:32:30.61\00:32:32.21 All right. And you know what? The Lord sat me down 00:32:32.51\00:32:35.32 and taught me the truth. 00:32:35.52\00:32:37.25 And when I came into the Adventist church 00:32:37.62\00:32:40.62 and found out that the Adventist church believed that as well 00:32:40.82\00:32:43.43 I was so excited! 00:32:43.73\00:32:45.63 But you know what? We don't talk about it any more. 00:32:45.93\00:32:48.66 We take it for granted. 00:32:48.96\00:32:51.53 J.D. said he grew up Adventist. 00:32:51.83\00:32:53.87 He didn't know. He said: "No big deal to me... 00:32:54.07\00:32:56.84 I've always known the truth about hell. " 00:32:57.71\00:32:59.84 There are so many people out there who don't know the truth 00:33:00.11\00:33:02.48 about hell, who don't know what the Bible says about the 00:33:02.68\00:33:06.11 mortal soul. We need to get out and teach them - Yes! - 00:33:06.21\00:33:09.25 because they will get closer to God if we do. 00:33:09.42\00:33:12.42 To be immortal means that you are exempt from death 00:33:12.82\00:33:15.39 and the Bible says only one person is immortal. 00:33:15.59\00:33:20.30 I Timothy chapter 6 verses 15 and 16 00:33:20.50\00:33:25.57 says God alone is immortal. 00:33:25.77\00:33:28.70 Look at this: 00:33:28.80\00:33:30.21 Only God is immortal! 00:33:44.42\00:33:46.62 It is a lie that man has an immortal soul. 00:33:47.12\00:33:51.69 Now it is the truth that you have already been given 00:33:51.99\00:33:55.40 the gift of eternal life if you're in Christ. 00:33:55.70\00:34:00.57 It is in your account. 00:34:00.94\00:34:02.40 But when do you put on immortality? 00:34:02.60\00:34:04.64 Let's look at I Corinthians 15 verses 51 through 55 00:34:04.77\00:34:09.48 because believers who are saved the Bible says 00:34:09.71\00:34:12.78 put on immortality at the last trump, 00:34:12.88\00:34:15.48 at the close of earth's history. 00:34:15.68\00:34:17.49 I Corinthians 15:51: 00:34:17.75\00:34:19.72 When? At the last trump! 00:34:50.85\00:34:53.72 It is not until the close of earth's history. 00:34:54.02\00:34:58.29 Since only the saved are given eternal life 00:35:22.15\00:35:28.12 and since we do not put on this immortality 00:35:28.36\00:35:32.56 until the last trump, do you realize what this means? 00:35:32.76\00:35:36.93 There are no disembodied spirits 00:35:37.47\00:35:40.70 floating around the earth 00:35:41.80\00:35:43.17 or no disembodied spirits up in heaven. 00:35:43.27\00:35:45.81 Ha, I'll tell you a little more of how I was taught 00:35:46.74\00:35:49.48 in just a moment. But if we will get this truth out 00:35:49.68\00:35:53.08 people will be protected from the New Age mysticism 00:35:53.58\00:35:59.55 of channeling spirits or thinking someone is 00:35:59.65\00:36:02.39 coming to tell them something 00:36:02.59\00:36:04.49 which is a deception and a lie. 00:36:04.69\00:36:06.93 Let me ask you this: do you know how 00:36:07.40\00:36:10.00 the philosophy of the immortal soul entered the church? 00:36:10.20\00:36:14.27 It's an amazing amazing story. 00:36:14.57\00:36:19.51 The apostolic fathers during the first century 00:36:20.38\00:36:23.55 and 3/4 of the second century 00:36:23.65\00:36:25.68 they taught that there were only two options: 00:36:26.92\00:36:32.09 the way of death or the way of life. 00:36:32.39\00:36:35.09 You're either going to perish or you're going to have 00:36:35.89\00:36:37.89 eternal life. That lines up with the scriptures, doesn't it? 00:36:37.99\00:36:40.80 So throughout 3/4 of the second century 00:36:41.86\00:36:46.10 they were still teaching this. 00:36:46.20\00:36:47.60 Now that was in direct contradiction to what 00:36:48.44\00:36:52.11 pagan philosophers were teaching at the time. 00:36:52.31\00:36:56.04 Socrates and Plato - 00:36:56.44\00:36:59.11 two Greek pagan philosophers - 00:36:59.31\00:37:03.12 taught that the soul was immortal. 00:37:03.42\00:37:06.62 And there was a pagan philosopher who was a pupil 00:37:07.59\00:37:12.86 of Plato. He lived in Carthage, Tunisia. 00:37:13.06\00:37:17.47 His is thought to have been the son of a Roman centurion. 00:37:18.30\00:37:22.10 He is also thought to have been a trained lawyer. 00:37:22.50\00:37:26.17 In 197 AD he had a conversion to Christianity 00:37:27.28\00:37:32.78 and he became a prolific ecclesiastical writer. 00:37:33.85\00:37:38.72 He wrote great volumes - a massive body of works - 00:37:39.39\00:37:44.13 of Latin Christian literature. 00:37:44.33\00:37:47.60 But this man, whose name was Tertullian... 00:37:48.03\00:37:51.17 Have you heard of Tertullian? Tertullian 00:37:51.37\00:37:54.24 became a Christian 197 AD 00:37:54.34\00:37:57.91 and one of the things that he wrote... one of his works... 00:37:58.21\00:38:01.81 is called Resurrection of the Flesh. 00:38:02.11\00:38:07.05 And what he taught in this 00:38:07.45\00:38:10.25 and what he actually does: he quotes Plato 00:38:10.45\00:38:14.69 saying that man's soul is immortal. 00:38:15.19\00:38:21.13 And because we have an immortal soul 00:38:21.53\00:38:23.50 our soul doesn't need saving... only our body. 00:38:23.70\00:38:26.20 And actually that's kind of how I grew up thinking. 00:38:26.63\00:38:28.97 I believed that when I died I would go to heaven 00:38:29.27\00:38:32.31 and then Jesus would bring me back to resurrect my body 00:38:32.51\00:38:34.94 'cause I was taught this immor- tal soul, this pagan philosophy. 00:38:36.78\00:38:41.42 But what happened was Tertullian further reasoned 00:38:41.82\00:38:45.95 since souls are immortal and cannot be destroyed 00:38:46.25\00:38:50.93 impenitent sinners would suffer a conscious, 00:38:51.06\00:38:56.53 on-going, never-ending punishment in hell 00:38:56.73\00:39:01.40 in direct contradiction of scripture. 00:39:01.80\00:39:06.07 Satan got this lie in: "You shall not surely die. " 00:39:06.37\00:39:11.05 He got it into the church through Plato and Tertullian. 00:39:11.35\00:39:15.52 So now let's look at John 3:16 again. 00:39:15.95\00:39:19.25 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son 00:39:19.45\00:39:22.26 that whosoever believes in Him should not perish 00:39:22.36\00:39:25.73 but have everlasting life. " 00:39:25.93\00:39:27.56 Only the saved, those who are surrendered and led by 00:39:28.03\00:39:30.87 the Spirit, receive the gift of eternal life. 00:39:30.97\00:39:35.40 So what's the opposite of eternal life? 00:39:35.70\00:39:37.64 Eternal? Death! 00:39:37.94\00:39:39.97 The lost are destroyed utterly and permanently. 00:39:40.38\00:39:43.35 You know, Paul has a juxtaposition of his own. 00:39:43.85\00:39:46.72 He says it this way in Romans 6:23: 00:39:47.02\00:39:48.98 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 00:39:49.18\00:39:53.46 is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. " 00:39:53.66\00:39:57.43 It's either or. Amen! 00:39:57.83\00:40:00.70 You're not going to have an eternal life in hell. 00:40:00.90\00:40:03.73 All right; all right. 00:40:04.03\00:40:05.37 The choice is eternal life in Christ 00:40:05.50\00:40:08.47 or eternal second death referred to in Revelation. 00:40:08.67\00:40:13.44 And we'll get there in just a few minutes if we have time. 00:40:13.64\00:40:16.38 John 3:17 continuing. Here is the 3rd juxtaposition. 00:40:17.75\00:40:21.75 Jesus says in John 3:17: 00:40:23.59\00:40:25.75 He goes on with another juxtaposition in verse 18: 00:40:34.96\00:40:39.47 Now, if we go on through verses 19 and 21 00:40:52.08\00:40:55.92 and we will - we're going to see the juxtaposition - 00:40:56.12\00:40:59.42 comparison, the contrast - 00:40:59.62\00:41:01.49 of man's response. First let's look in verse 19 00:41:01.79\00:41:06.80 the response of the evil: 00:41:07.00\00:41:08.63 So that's the response of the evil. 00:41:33.62\00:41:35.39 Now the juxtaposition... the contrast. Verse 21: 00:41:35.59\00:41:39.79 What does it mean to be "done in God? " 00:41:55.54\00:41:57.71 That it's been done by God's divine help. 00:41:58.01\00:42:01.42 That you've done this with complete and total dependence 00:42:01.62\00:42:05.72 upon God... which is God's plan of salvation. 00:42:05.82\00:42:10.13 So He sets before each human being 00:42:10.96\00:42:14.10 the choice of the path of life 00:42:14.36\00:42:16.33 where we find joy in His presence forevermore 00:42:16.53\00:42:19.23 or the path of death 00:42:19.53\00:42:21.34 where you'll be totally destroyed. 00:42:21.77\00:42:23.37 Let me ask: on which path are you walking? 00:42:23.77\00:42:25.71 Let me... somebody... I heard a precious little voice say: 00:42:27.91\00:42:31.75 "Hopefully the path of life. " 00:42:31.95\00:42:34.72 Let me give you some assurance. 00:42:35.02\00:42:36.75 I John chapter 5 verses 10 through 12. 00:42:37.05\00:42:40.12 Listen to this juxtaposition: 00:42:40.62\00:42:43.22 "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal 00:42:43.53\00:42:46.86 life and this life is in His Son. 00:42:47.03\00:42:49.13 He who has the Son has life. 00:42:49.43\00:42:53.50 He who does not have the Son does not have life. " 00:42:53.80\00:42:58.87 Eternal life is available only through Christ. 00:42:59.51\00:43:02.61 And as I said it's already deposited. 00:43:02.91\00:43:04.98 If you're in Christ, you've got that deposited 00:43:05.18\00:43:07.72 into your account. 00:43:07.92\00:43:09.38 Immortality will be given you at the last trump. 00:43:09.68\00:43:12.69 So on one side of the scales we see that love's justice 00:43:13.56\00:43:16.96 is paternal. It is a fatherly 00:43:17.06\00:43:20.03 remunerative-type justice. 00:43:23.37\00:43:26.07 It's God's standard of love for His benefits and His grace. 00:43:26.37\00:43:31.44 I praise God for His paternal justice, don't you? 00:43:32.34\00:43:36.48 I am a debtor... I will be a debtor throughout 00:43:37.01\00:43:39.28 eternity to God's paternal justice. 00:43:39.38\00:43:42.02 But on the other side is God's avenging and punitive 00:43:42.32\00:43:47.12 judgment. And on that side, people are judged 00:43:47.32\00:43:52.39 by their conduct and their works. 00:43:52.59\00:43:55.40 Do you realize you're not judged by your conduct and your works? 00:43:55.90\00:43:58.53 You're judged by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 00:43:58.93\00:44:01.47 You will be rewarded according to your works 00:44:01.67\00:44:04.54 but you are not judged according to your works. 00:44:04.74\00:44:07.58 That makes my feet do a happy dance! 00:44:09.64\00:44:11.68 Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 00:44:11.98\00:44:14.95 So on this side of avenging justice 00:44:16.02\00:44:19.92 we've got God judging people by their conduct, 00:44:20.36\00:44:25.96 by their works. And He will inflict merited punishment 00:44:26.26\00:44:30.13 on transgressors who fail to heed His warnings 00:44:30.33\00:44:34.30 and deserve judgment. 00:44:34.60\00:44:35.94 You know, when we look at the world 00:44:36.30\00:44:39.77 and all the evil, the pain and the suffering, 00:44:39.97\00:44:42.08 sometimes we want to say: "Where is justice? " 00:44:42.81\00:44:45.38 It's on its way... it's on its way. 00:44:45.81\00:44:49.48 Justice demands punishment of the guilty. 00:44:49.82\00:44:53.05 GOD HATES SIN. 00:44:53.62\00:44:55.82 He declares it to be deserving of punishment. 00:44:55.92\00:45:00.06 God will repay. He promises to execute 00:45:00.36\00:45:02.96 merited punishment upon the sinners for all the wrongs 00:45:03.16\00:45:07.27 that they perpetrated against mankind. 00:45:07.57\00:45:09.70 Love's final justice will condemn and snuff out sin, 00:45:09.90\00:45:13.68 bringing it to an end and bringing comfort to His people. 00:45:13.88\00:45:16.78 There is a kingdom principle... again, another juxtaposition... 00:45:17.28\00:45:21.08 that is written in Galatians chapter 6 verses 7 and 8. 00:45:21.38\00:45:24.22 "God will not be mocked. You reap what you sow. " 00:45:24.52\00:45:27.46 If you sow to the flesh, what are you going to reap? 00:45:27.72\00:45:30.13 Destruction. 00:45:30.43\00:45:31.96 If you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life. 00:45:32.26\00:45:36.10 You know, sinners actually sometimes realize 00:45:36.83\00:45:40.20 that God is going to... they're aware of God's judgment 00:45:40.60\00:45:44.27 on sin. Romans 1:32. Paul says this 00:45:44.44\00:45:48.48 talking about these sinners it says: 00:45:48.78\00:45:51.15 "who... " these people... "knowing the righteous judgment 00:45:51.25\00:45:53.92 of God that those who practice such things are deserving 00:45:54.02\00:45:57.05 of death not only do the same 00:45:57.15\00:45:59.79 but also approve of those who practice them. " 00:46:00.19\00:46:04.39 Do you realize that makes sin suicidal? 00:46:04.89\00:46:07.93 Sinners will willingly sacrifice the gift of eternal life 00:46:08.86\00:46:13.54 to just enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin. 00:46:13.94\00:46:18.81 Sin is suicidal. 00:46:19.37\00:46:21.51 There will be a repayment for evil. 00:46:22.34\00:46:25.25 These sinners who disobey God's law and work contrary 00:46:25.65\00:46:28.92 to His righteous ways and His loving will 00:46:29.12\00:46:32.32 shall suffer the displeasure of God. 00:46:32.62\00:46:35.09 The gavel of divine justice will fall. 00:46:35.29\00:46:38.73 It will come down upon those who have refused God's love, 00:46:38.96\00:46:43.23 who've spurned His grace, 00:46:43.63\00:46:45.27 who've hated His truths and exploited His people. 00:46:45.47\00:46:49.00 By their own rebellion 00:46:49.30\00:46:51.67 sinners will forfeit God's favor. 00:46:52.07\00:46:55.88 They will cast themselves out of the court 00:46:56.28\00:46:59.78 of love's paternal justice 00:47:00.15\00:47:03.28 and into the fiery furnace of love's avenging justice. 00:47:03.72\00:47:09.02 And until the very end they will be gnashing their teeth 00:47:09.42\00:47:11.76 against Him. Did you know? How many of you have heard? 00:47:11.86\00:47:16.50 You know, Jesus seven times - mostly in parables - 00:47:16.80\00:47:19.13 talked about weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:47:19.17\00:47:21.47 I grew up thinking people are grinding their teeth 00:47:21.80\00:47:26.54 in fear, in pain. But you know what that term actually 00:47:26.78\00:47:30.78 means? Gnashing your teeth? 00:47:30.98\00:47:32.78 That was an idiom... a figure of speech in the Bible... 00:47:32.98\00:47:36.05 used to talk about people who were furiously angry. 00:47:36.25\00:47:39.95 Let me give you a couple examples. 00:47:40.26\00:47:41.79 Psalm 35:16 says: "With ungodly mockers at feasts 00:47:42.19\00:47:47.73 they gnash their teeth against me. " 00:47:47.93\00:47:50.13 Lamentations 2:16 says: "All Your enemies have opened 00:47:50.33\00:47:52.77 their mouth against You. 00:47:52.87\00:47:54.20 They hiss and they gnash their teeth. " 00:47:54.24\00:47:55.94 And Acts 7:54 says 00:47:56.24\00:47:57.97 those that were present at Stephen's stoning 00:47:58.27\00:48:02.54 "gnashed their teeth against him. " 00:48:02.74\00:48:04.78 It is a figure of speech that Jesus was using 00:48:05.18\00:48:08.62 to say that the unrepentant sinner 00:48:09.02\00:48:12.95 at the very end is still furiously angry with God. 00:48:13.25\00:48:18.29 They're not remorseful to the very end. 00:48:18.59\00:48:21.10 But let's consider God's anguish. 00:48:21.50\00:48:24.27 Here we have a God of love who must execute judgment 00:48:24.77\00:48:30.11 to fulfill love's justice. 00:48:30.31\00:48:31.74 God cannot ignore the behavior of sin. 00:48:32.24\00:48:34.31 Justice demands that He act in judgment. 00:48:34.41\00:48:36.95 And Paul tells us that God desires that all men should 00:48:37.25\00:48:41.22 be saved. Peter tells us: "Hey! Don't be fooled. 00:48:41.42\00:48:45.39 He's patient; He's longsuffering. 00:48:45.59\00:48:47.66 Don't think He's waiting this long. 00:48:47.82\00:48:49.36 But He's not willing that any should perish 00:48:49.66\00:48:52.49 but they should come to repentance. " 00:48:52.79\00:48:55.53 And God Himself in Ezekiel 33:11... listen to the 00:48:55.83\00:48:59.83 heart of a loving Father. 00:49:00.10\00:49:01.60 He says: "Say to them: 'As I live says the Lord God 00:49:02.00\00:49:06.11 I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked' - 00:49:06.41\00:49:10.61 Amen! - 'but that the wicked would turn from his way 00:49:10.71\00:49:13.15 and live. ' Yes! 'Turn from your evil ways. 00:49:13.35\00:49:16.85 Why should you die O house of Israel? ' " 00:49:17.05\00:49:19.69 What is He talking about here? What death? 00:49:20.52\00:49:22.59 It has to be the second death. 00:49:22.89\00:49:24.56 Man is appointed to die once. All of us are going to die 00:49:24.96\00:49:27.96 the natural death unless we're alive when Jesus returns. 00:49:28.03\00:49:31.30 The second death is what He's referring to 00:49:31.70\00:49:34.44 that is mentioned four times in Revelation. 00:49:34.74\00:49:37.21 And let's look quickly at those. 00:49:37.41\00:49:38.74 In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 11 Jesus says: 00:49:39.21\00:49:43.24 And then let's look at Revelation chapter 20 00:50:03.20\00:50:06.63 and verse 4 is where we'll begin. John says: 00:50:06.94\00:50:10.51 "But the rest of the dead did not live again until the 00:50:30.09\00:50:32.66 thousand years were finished. " 00:50:32.76\00:50:34.66 He's talking about... he says: "This is the 1st resurrection. " 00:50:34.76\00:50:37.53 Those who are living and reigning 00:50:37.73\00:50:39.33 for a thousand years with Jesus. 00:50:39.53\00:50:42.90 I remember when I was writing a book 00:50:58.79\00:51:00.76 my sister who - bless her heart - went to sleep in Jesus 00:51:01.02\00:51:05.26 a little over a year ago - 00:51:05.29\00:51:06.90 she would... There were no boundaries 00:51:07.30\00:51:10.23 where she was concerned. So I could tell her I was on 00:51:10.33\00:51:13.03 a tight schedule... she'd continue calling. 00:51:13.17\00:51:15.00 So what I'd do is I would read to her 00:51:15.40\00:51:17.37 what I was writing and that gave her that time, 00:51:17.57\00:51:19.74 that talk time with me. 00:51:19.94\00:51:21.28 And I got to John 5:28 and 29 00:51:21.38\00:51:23.85 and I was reading Jesus' words... 00:51:24.05\00:51:26.55 He says: "Do not marvel at this. " 00:51:26.78\00:51:30.95 There's a screen for this. 00:51:31.22\00:51:32.72 Then I read to her Daniel 12:2 00:51:51.54\00:51:54.11 that was in my manuscript: "And many of those who sleep 00:51:54.31\00:51:56.78 in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting 00:51:56.98\00:52:00.55 life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. " 00:52:00.75\00:52:03.32 Then I continued on and she's going: "Whoa! 00:52:03.72\00:52:05.55 Hold the phone! " She says: "Come back. 00:52:05.59\00:52:07.89 What did you just say? " And I said: "Well, 00:52:08.09\00:52:10.56 there's two resurrections. Revelation... You know, Jesus 00:52:10.76\00:52:13.33 says there's two resurrections. Paul mentions it in Acts. 00:52:13.53\00:52:15.90 Daniel mentions. Jesus says in Revelation 20 00:52:16.10\00:52:20.40 that the first resurrection. They live a thousand years. 00:52:20.60\00:52:23.41 Then the evil are going to be resurrected. " 00:52:23.71\00:52:26.17 And she's saying: "Wait! You're telling me that my mother 00:52:26.47\00:52:29.84 is not in heaven right now? " 00:52:30.15\00:52:31.71 And I said: "Well actually she's not. " 00:52:32.11\00:52:33.88 She got so upset with me 00:52:34.18\00:52:35.88 she was screaming at me over the phone. 00:52:36.18\00:52:38.29 And she said: "I just hate you! 00:52:38.69\00:52:41.46 Every time I talk to you... " She said: "Everything I've been 00:52:41.76\00:52:43.69 brought up you're telling me is not the truth. 00:52:43.79\00:52:45.76 I just hate you! " And I said: 00:52:45.96\00:52:47.60 "Sunny, go get your Strong's Concordance out. 00:52:47.76\00:52:51.60 Look up death; look up sleep. 00:52:51.90\00:52:53.87 Look up rest; look up on the resurrection 00:52:54.07\00:52:57.64 and what happens when we die. " She hung up. 00:52:57.84\00:53:02.34 I mean, she slammed the phone down. 00:53:02.64\00:53:04.35 About six hours later she called me back 00:53:04.85\00:53:07.62 calm as a cucumber and she said: "Well you're right. " 00:53:07.88\00:53:10.82 She said: "We just sleep when we die. " 00:53:12.15\00:53:13.96 She said: "I can't believe... How could? " 00:53:14.36\00:53:17.43 She started naming off some other ministers and she said: 00:53:17.73\00:53:20.20 "I just love their ministry. How could they teach this? " 00:53:20.30\00:53:22.43 If we get into the sola scrip- tura we will find the answer. 00:53:23.16\00:53:27.24 Now I want to go real quickly; my time's almost out. 00:53:27.54\00:53:31.67 I've got a couple more. Revelation 20:11-15. 00:53:31.87\00:53:36.31 The great white throne judgment. Says: 00:53:36.51\00:53:39.21 The results of sin we don't have time to go to. 00:54:46.48\00:54:49.85 The final fourth scripture 00:54:50.05\00:54:54.59 was Revelation 21:8. 00:54:54.79\00:54:56.46 But... well, I'll read it real quickly. 00:54:56.69\00:54:59.56 Revelation 21:8: 00:54:59.76\00:55:01.13 The result of sin is that sinners will be judged. 00:55:16.41\00:55:19.28 Hell is the response of a just and holy God 00:55:19.78\00:55:23.69 who will destroy evil. 00:55:23.99\00:55:26.55 He will destroy sin, bringing it to an end. 00:55:26.65\00:55:30.99 The supreme holiness of God, founded and established on 00:55:31.66\00:55:35.70 infinite love, will judge the seriousness of spiritual 00:55:35.90\00:55:40.10 nature of sin, but His heart of infinite love will be broken. 00:55:40.30\00:55:45.87 It is against His nature to inflict pain, suffering, 00:55:46.37\00:55:50.81 and death... but He will. 00:55:51.01\00:55:53.15 Isaiah 28 verse 21 says that He's going to perform 00:55:53.58\00:55:58.09 "His strange act. " 00:55:58.39\00:56:01.32 What an assault it is against God's character 00:56:01.52\00:56:04.56 to think that He is going to torment 00:56:04.86\00:56:08.50 and torture people forever and ever. 00:56:08.70\00:56:11.00 We've got to get this truth out that that is 00:56:11.20\00:56:13.54 NOT what the Bible says. Amen! You know, 00:56:13.74\00:56:16.60 we think of Jesus. The first advent He came 00:56:17.01\00:56:19.74 as the Lamb of God but the second advent He's 00:56:20.08\00:56:22.81 coming as the Lion of Judah. 00:56:22.91\00:56:24.78 And He is coming to rescue His people. 00:56:25.08\00:56:27.88 He is coming to rescue us 00:56:28.18\00:56:30.69 who've been held as prisoners of war. 00:56:30.92\00:56:32.99 And He is going to subdue His enemies 00:56:33.39\00:56:36.02 who have rejected grace, continued in their evil ways, 00:56:36.22\00:56:39.36 and taken advantage of God's patience and mercy. 00:56:39.66\00:56:43.33 And He is going to consume them 00:56:43.73\00:56:47.30 in the flame - the fiery flame - of His divine love. 00:56:48.10\00:56:51.74 God's purpose is to restore His creation order 00:56:52.14\00:56:55.21 so that all who willingly acknowledge His love and 00:56:55.44\00:56:58.81 sovereignty may receive the benefits of eternal life 00:56:58.91\00:57:03.25 with him. Amen! And Nahum 1:9 says: 00:57:03.45\00:57:06.22 "God will make an utter end of sin 00:57:06.62\00:57:10.19 and affliction shall not rise a second time. " 00:57:10.39\00:57:13.53 In the end, love will prevail. Amen! 00:57:14.10\00:57:18.30 In the end, love's justice will prevail. Amen! 00:57:18.40\00:57:24.01 Praise the Lord for His paternal justice. Amen. 00:57:24.37\00:57:30.35