Lo, the day of
judgment has come,
00:00:01.36\00:00:03.73
reflecting that great
symbolic Day of Atonement
00:00:04.17\00:00:06.97
the Jewish
people use to practice.
00:00:07.00\00:00:09.60
It was prophetic in that it
looked down to the end of time,
00:00:09.64\00:00:13.61
the end of time.
00:00:13.71\00:00:15.18
And we're in that
great Day of Atonement.
00:00:15.58\00:00:18.01
That's why the
angels said that the day of
00:00:18.05\00:00:21.18
His judgment has come.
00:00:21.22\00:00:22.72
Fear God, because the
day of His judgment has come.
00:00:22.75\00:00:25.52
In other words,
it's time to get ready.
00:00:25.55\00:00:27.56
It's time to get
your heart purified,
00:00:27.59\00:00:29.16
because there's going to
come a close of human probation.
00:00:29.19\00:00:32.59
This also, when this happened in
the symbolic Jewish Sanctuary,
00:00:33.66\00:00:38.60
that now we're
living in a reality,
00:00:38.90\00:00:41.30
the high priest went
into the Most Holy Place.
00:00:41.34\00:00:44.51
It was the only time of year he
went into the Most Holy Place.
00:00:44.54\00:00:48.04
And when he went
into the Most Holy Place,
00:00:48.44\00:00:50.25
they would actually tie a rope
in case he was not right himself
00:00:50.28\00:00:55.42
in the glory of God and he
would have sin on his heart.
00:00:55.45\00:01:00.09
You know, God is
a consuming fire.
00:01:00.62\00:01:02.69
He hates sin, and
there's a reason He hates sin.
00:01:02.72\00:01:06.43
There's a real reason.
00:01:06.66\00:01:08.00
You have to
understand why God hates sin.
00:01:08.03\00:01:10.50
You know, when I
was a little boy...
00:01:10.97\00:01:12.83
I've told this
story a few times,
00:01:13.03\00:01:14.60
so if you've
heard it, I apologize,
00:01:14.64\00:01:17.64
but I can't get a better one.
00:01:17.67\00:01:20.24
When I was a little boy,
my little brother and I were
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playing out in our grandmother's
big sandy driveway.
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She lived out in the
country. My aunts lived there.
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I have wonderful aunts.
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I'm so grateful
for them. I love them.
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They're watching this.
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And my aunts were around,
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and we were out
playing with our little cars.
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And all of a sudden
I saw my grandmother,
00:01:39.63\00:01:42.43
my sweet grandmother, she
came running toward us screaming
00:01:42.46\00:01:46.53
with a hoe in her hand.
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Now I wasn't
afraid, I was just stunned.
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I'd never seen
grandma this way before.
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And she comes running
up to us and she starts
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beating the
ground with that hoe.
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Well there happened to be a
little copperhead snake there.
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And I think one of my
aunts must have seen it
00:02:02.82\00:02:04.82
and went and told her.
00:02:04.85\00:02:06.49
And grandma chopped that little
snake into a thousand pieces.
00:02:06.79\00:02:11.99
Of course, that's hyperbole.
00:02:12.89\00:02:14.53
But why was my grandmother
so angry at the snake?
00:02:14.56\00:02:20.14
Well, because it was a
threat to her little grandboys.
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You can measure
God's anger towards sin
00:02:25.41\00:02:29.44
in relationship
to His love for us.
00:02:30.01\00:02:33.62
Sin, like a snake, has
crawled into His universe.
00:02:33.88\00:02:37.02
And God has a
reaction that's predictable.
00:02:37.79\00:02:41.12
It's as predictable
as my grandmother's.
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And that is, He's
going to destroy it.
00:02:43.83\00:02:45.76
But He's made a way so
that we, as poor sinners,
00:02:45.79\00:02:49.03
that we can be
cleansed by the blood of Christ.
00:02:49.33\00:02:51.63
And we don't have
to come into judgment.
00:02:52.03\00:02:54.90
That's what Jesus teaches.
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And that's so wonderful, because
our heavenly Father loves us.
00:02:56.87\00:03:00.48
He hates sin
because He loves us.
00:03:00.91\00:03:03.24
And He doesn't want us to
become identified with sin.
00:03:03.35\00:03:06.01
So this last Day of
Atonement, the priest
00:03:06.55\00:03:11.05
goes into the Holy of Holies.
00:03:11.09\00:03:13.29
And as he goes
into the Holy of Holies,
00:03:13.42\00:03:15.79
he offers a sacrifice.
00:03:15.82\00:03:17.16
Now there's two goats
that were brought for that day,
00:03:17.19\00:03:21.46
two special goats.
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Now one was
sacrificed as a sin offering.
00:03:22.93\00:03:25.43
His blood was shed,
that represents Jesus,
00:03:25.47\00:03:28.00
his blood was shed for us.
00:03:28.04\00:03:29.54
He's the one who
cleanses us from all our sins.
00:03:29.57\00:03:31.94
And there was another
that was called a scapegoat.
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I really don't like the
word, scapegoat, here, but
00:03:34.68\00:03:36.64
it's the best
we'll use for the moment.
00:03:36.75\00:03:38.61
And his blood wasn't shed.
00:03:38.98\00:03:40.98
He was just taken
off in the wilderness.
00:03:41.02\00:03:42.88
And he was left out
there to die, as it were.
00:03:43.22\00:03:46.65
Well this scapegoat
does not represent Jesus.
00:03:47.29\00:03:50.43
It represents Satan.
00:03:50.76\00:03:52.19
And the reason it
represents Satan...
00:03:52.23\00:03:54.96
And the priest, by the way,
confessed the sins of Israel
00:03:55.00\00:03:56.97
over both of these goats.
00:03:57.00\00:03:58.53
The reason it does
not represent Jesus
00:03:58.73\00:04:00.74
is because his
blood was not shed.
00:04:00.77\00:04:02.70
And it represents Satan.
00:04:03.27\00:04:04.61
Now Satan cannot
pay for our sins.
00:04:04.64\00:04:06.47
Let me make that really clear.
00:04:06.51\00:04:08.04
But he has a part
in all of our sins.
00:04:08.28\00:04:11.28
And he's going to
suffer for his own sins
00:04:11.61\00:04:13.85
and all the part he's
had in all of our sins.
00:04:13.88\00:04:16.52
Suffers for his
own sins, so to speak.
00:04:17.32\00:04:20.22
So when God comes to
the end of the world,
00:04:20.72\00:04:24.23
the big
question is, who done it?
00:04:24.26\00:04:27.40
Who's responsible for this mess?
00:04:27.43\00:04:29.66
And in this symbolic
service, the whole universe
00:04:29.93\00:04:33.23
will say to God the Father...
00:04:33.27\00:04:36.07
And He's the Creator, so
He's been a prime suspect.
00:04:36.10\00:04:39.17
People blame God today
everywhere for all the trouble,
00:04:39.27\00:04:42.04
the sorrow, the
heartache, and all the misery.
00:04:42.08\00:04:44.35
They blame God.
00:04:44.38\00:04:45.71
There's the tendency in
every human heart to do it.
00:04:45.75\00:04:48.28
But God didn't do it.
00:04:48.78\00:04:50.19
The prime mover of evil
was none other than Lucifer.
00:04:50.29\00:04:54.06
Satan himself,
he's the prime mover.
00:04:54.09\00:04:57.06
And the justice of
heaven, the courts of heaven,
00:04:57.16\00:05:00.86
the host of
heaven, and all the earth
00:05:00.90\00:05:03.47
is going to
recognize that this is the one.
00:05:03.50\00:05:07.60
This is the one who did it.
00:05:08.04\00:05:10.67
And so he's
going to be condemned.
00:05:11.77\00:05:13.84
And the blame for the
sin problem and our suffering
00:05:14.11\00:05:18.11
is going to be put
right where it belongs.
00:05:18.15\00:05:20.55
Not on God, not
on the God of love,
00:05:20.58\00:05:23.62
but on Satan who was the
prime mover of this whole thing.
00:05:23.72\00:05:28.02
So his suffers that awful fate.
00:05:28.46\00:05:30.36
But we are cleansed by
the blood of Christ alone.
00:05:30.39\00:05:34.93
Now this solemn day
in which we are living,
00:05:35.10\00:05:38.50
this solemn time
period, as I mentioned,
00:05:38.53\00:05:41.17
we often call it
sometimes the day of Yom Kippur,
00:05:41.27\00:05:45.34
people are familiar with that,
00:05:45.37\00:05:47.31
but it's a reality now,
as we're talking about here
00:05:47.94\00:05:50.35
in the time of the end.
00:05:50.38\00:05:51.71
This reality is
a time to fear God.
00:05:52.11\00:05:55.68
It's a time to take God serious.
00:05:55.78\00:05:58.32
People say, "How can
the everlasting gospel
00:05:58.65\00:06:01.22
start out by saying, 'Fear
God, and give glory to Him.'"
00:06:01.26\00:06:05.73
I want to talk about this
fear of God just a little bit.
00:06:05.89\00:06:08.63
The fear of God means that
we should take God serious.
00:06:08.66\00:06:11.30
And let me tell you, the day and
age in which we're living in,
00:06:11.33\00:06:13.57
we need to take God serious.
00:06:13.60\00:06:15.24
All through history when
people didn't take God serious,
00:06:15.27\00:06:17.87
they got into lots of trouble.
00:06:17.91\00:06:19.47
You know, I got into
lots of trouble as a boy
00:06:19.51\00:06:21.11
when I didn't take
mom and dad serious.
00:06:21.14\00:06:22.91
I needed to take... I
should take them serious.
00:06:22.94\00:06:25.11
They knew a lot
more than I knew.
00:06:25.15\00:06:27.12
They had a lot more experience.
00:06:27.15\00:06:28.48
Listen, God is infinitely
more wise than any of us.
00:06:28.52\00:06:31.12
And He loves us,
He cares about us.
00:06:31.32\00:06:33.59
Let's just listen to
this just a little bit.
00:06:33.62\00:06:35.79
Psalm 111:10
says, "The fear of God
00:06:36.62\00:06:41.20
is the beginning of wisdom;
00:06:41.23\00:06:43.57
and a good
understanding have all of those
00:06:44.10\00:06:46.90
who do His commandments."
00:06:46.94\00:06:48.47
So the fear of God is
the beginning of wisdom.
00:06:48.50\00:06:51.64
When you take God
serious, that's a start
00:06:52.01\00:06:53.74
of when you're
starting to get wise.
00:06:53.78\00:06:55.44
Now the book of Job 28:28
says, "Behold, the fear of God,
00:06:55.78\00:07:00.92
that is wisdom..."
00:07:00.95\00:07:02.38
So when you finally get wisdom,
00:07:02.58\00:07:04.69
it's because you've got
the fear of God in your heart.
00:07:04.72\00:07:07.99
And Proverbs 8:13 says, "The
fear of God is to hate evil."
00:07:08.32\00:07:17.93
Like my grandmother
hated that little copperhead
00:07:18.13\00:07:20.94
that was a
threat to her grandboys.
00:07:20.97\00:07:23.51
So God hates evil.
00:07:23.54\00:07:25.07
And when we have the
love of God in our heart,
00:07:25.11\00:07:27.28
we're also going to have
the fear of God in our heart.
00:07:27.31\00:07:29.48
It means that we're
going to take God serious,
00:07:29.51\00:07:31.01
and we're going to hate
evil like He hates evil.
00:07:31.05\00:07:33.58
Because evil is a destroyer.
00:07:33.62\00:07:35.82
It destroys people.
00:07:35.92\00:07:38.72
And look what
it's done to our world.
00:07:38.75\00:07:40.69
The New Testament doesn't
let up on this, by the way.
00:07:41.12\00:07:43.63
Acts 9:31 says this after the
story of Ananias and Sapphira,
00:07:43.66\00:07:49.20
and some other events
there, Acts 9:31 says,
00:07:49.23\00:07:52.20
"Then the
churches through all Judea,
00:07:52.23\00:07:55.04
Galilee, and
Samaria had peace..."
00:07:55.14\00:07:57.11
The apostle Paul
had been converted.
00:07:57.21\00:07:58.97
Saul to Paul.
00:07:59.01\00:08:00.58
"...had peace and were edified."
00:08:00.61\00:08:02.68
Listen to this, New
Testament, "Walking in the fear
00:08:02.71\00:08:07.28
of the Lord and in the
comfort of the Holy Spirit,
00:08:07.32\00:08:11.32
they were multiplied."
00:08:11.35\00:08:12.69
Walking in the seriousness.
00:08:12.72\00:08:14.29
Taking the Lord
serious, they had the comfort
00:08:14.32\00:08:18.43
of the Holy Spirit.
00:08:18.46\00:08:19.79
Now 2 Corinthians 7:1 says,
00:08:19.83\00:08:22.86
"Therefore, having
these promises, beloved,
00:08:23.10\00:08:26.17
let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh..."
00:08:26.20\00:08:31.14
In other words,
"We need to get ready.
00:08:31.17\00:08:32.97
Get our hearts purified."
00:08:33.01\00:08:34.34
Listen to this, "...perfecting
holiness in the fear of God. "
00:08:34.38\00:08:39.68
When you take God serious,
it begins to change your heart.
00:08:39.71\00:08:43.12
What He says
becomes important to you.
00:08:43.79\00:08:46.59
Ephesians 5:18-21 says,
"And do not be drunk with wine,
00:08:46.79\00:08:53.63
which is dissipation, but
be filled with the Spirit;
00:08:53.66\00:08:56.97
speaking to one
another in psalms and hymns
00:08:57.23\00:09:00.24
and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart..."
00:09:00.27\00:09:03.61
We should be the
happiest people in the world.
00:09:03.64\00:09:05.37
If you have the fear
of God in your heart,
00:09:05.47\00:09:07.31
you take God
serious, you have the sweet
00:09:07.34\00:09:09.34
comfort of the Holy
Spirit, and you have the
00:09:09.38\00:09:11.51
blood of Christ
covering you, you should be the
00:09:11.55\00:09:13.08
happiest person in the world.
00:09:13.11\00:09:14.65
And he goes on to say,
"...giving thanks always
00:09:14.75\00:09:17.22
for all things to God the Father
00:09:17.25\00:09:19.79
in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ..."
00:09:19.82\00:09:21.42
Then he says this,
"...submitting to one another
00:09:21.46\00:09:25.06
in the fear of God."
00:09:25.69\00:09:27.50
We don't just submit
to one another blindly,
00:09:27.60\00:09:30.03
but we are
humble with one another
00:09:30.20\00:09:33.20
because we take God serious.
00:09:33.30\00:09:35.87
So what He says
guides our submitting.
00:09:35.90\00:09:39.71
"...submit to one
another in the fear of God."
00:09:39.91\00:09:44.61
Now if we're going to
get ready for Jesus to come,
00:09:44.88\00:09:48.18
we have to take sin so
serious that we repent of it.
00:09:48.22\00:09:51.82
The story of Nebuchadnezzar
with Daniel in chapter,
00:09:52.19\00:09:56.62
I think it's chapter 4,
Nebuchadnezzar has this dream
00:09:57.19\00:10:02.46
that I don't have time to
get into, but he sees this dream
00:10:02.50\00:10:05.63
of this great tree, and
it's so big, and everything.
00:10:05.67\00:10:08.07
It's wonderful.
And it's cut down.
00:10:08.10\00:10:10.01
And Daniel is called to
interpret it for the king.
00:10:10.57\00:10:13.91
And Daniel is, you know, he
says, "Well, this ought to be to
00:10:13.94\00:10:17.45
the king and to his enemies."
00:10:17.48\00:10:19.41
But the king says, "No,
you better tell it to me."
00:10:19.61\00:10:21.72
And Daniel says,
"This is you, king.
00:10:22.02\00:10:24.05
This is you." I'm paraphrasing.
00:10:24.25\00:10:26.05
And then Daniel says this
to him, "Therefore, O king,
00:10:26.15\00:10:28.96
let my advice be
acceptable to you.
00:10:29.46\00:10:31.49
Break off your sins
by being righteous..."
00:10:32.29\00:10:35.30
In other words, "Repent of
your sins by being righteous."
00:10:35.33\00:10:38.80
"...and your iniquities by
showing mercy to the poor."
00:10:38.90\00:10:41.67
In other words, "King,
turn from your selfishness.
00:10:41.70\00:10:44.57
Repent of your sins."
00:10:44.61\00:10:46.04
John the Baptist,
in Matthew 3:1-2, said,
00:10:46.07\00:10:50.35
"In those days came
John the Baptist preaching
00:10:50.38\00:10:53.75
in the
wilderness of Judea, saying,
00:10:53.78\00:10:55.55
'Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand!'"
00:10:55.75\00:11:00.56
"Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
00:11:00.96\00:11:02.96
In Matthew 3:5 it says
that all of Jerusalem and Judea
00:11:03.22\00:11:07.33
went out and were baptized by
John, "confessing their sins."
00:11:07.36\00:11:11.37
And they came to John
and asked him questions.
00:11:11.50\00:11:14.00
In Luke 3:8-14 John says, "Bear
fruit worthy of repentance."
00:11:14.27\00:11:20.28
So if you've repented,
you're going to be changed.
00:11:20.31\00:11:23.65
And he says,
"Don't put stock in the
00:11:23.85\00:11:25.98
fact that
you're Abraham's seed."
00:11:26.01\00:11:27.35
A lot of people say
"I'm a Christian, I'm okay.
00:11:27.38\00:11:29.18
I've accepted Jesus. I believe.
00:11:29.28\00:11:30.69
I'm okay, everything is okay.
00:11:30.72\00:11:32.05
I can just keep on
doing what I want."
00:11:32.09\00:11:33.42
No, no. Be careful.
00:11:33.46\00:11:34.79
No, you bear
fruit of repentance.
00:11:34.82\00:11:37.69
Your life is changed.
00:11:37.93\00:11:40.00
You don't just say, "I'm sorry."
00:11:40.63\00:11:42.80
You behave differently.
00:11:43.20\00:11:45.40
And John says that,
"Therefore, every tree
00:11:46.17\00:11:48.60
which does not bear
good fruit is cut down..."
00:11:48.64\00:11:51.97
So people are saying,
"What should we do then?"
00:11:52.67\00:11:55.14
And he said, "If
you have two cloaks,
00:11:55.48\00:11:58.01
give one to somebody else.
00:11:58.05\00:11:59.45
If you've got food,
then share your food."
00:11:59.48\00:12:01.78
In other words,
don't be selfish.
00:12:01.82\00:12:03.95
Tax collectors
said, "What should we do?"
00:12:03.99\00:12:06.35
And he says, "Don't collect more
than you're supposed to collect.
00:12:06.79\00:12:10.03
Don't rob people.
Be honest with people."
00:12:10.06\00:12:12.69
Solders came to him and
said, "What should we do?"
00:12:12.79\00:12:15.76
And he said,
"Quit being so violent.
00:12:15.80\00:12:17.73
Be content with your wages."
00:12:17.77\00:12:19.10
The Spirit and
the bride say, "Come!"
00:12:19.13\00:12:21.47
There was a little girl
in the special Olympics.
00:12:21.50\00:12:23.37
And they were running the race,
and she had a little friend.
00:12:24.24\00:12:28.48
And they were getting
close to the goal line,
00:12:28.51\00:12:30.15
and suddenly her
little friend got confused.
00:12:30.18\00:12:32.61
And he ran off to
the center of the field
00:12:32.98\00:12:35.28
as they were running this race.
00:12:35.32\00:12:37.02
And she was
concerned about her friend.
00:12:37.55\00:12:39.62
She had down syndrome.
00:12:39.65\00:12:41.36
She was concerned
about her little friend.
00:12:41.39\00:12:43.56
And she stopped in her race,
not far from the finish line.
00:12:44.46\00:12:49.13
And she said, "Come
over here, come over here."
00:12:49.83\00:12:52.97
But he was
confused, so she went over.
00:12:53.64\00:12:56.10
She put his arm in hers and
brought him out to the track.
00:12:56.17\00:13:00.48
And together they went
across the finish line last.
00:13:00.51\00:13:05.61
But they finished.
00:13:05.65\00:13:06.98
There wasn't a dry
eye in the whole place.
00:13:07.02\00:13:09.25
And I can still hear
her words, "Come over here."
00:13:09.72\00:13:12.89
The Spirit and
the bride say, "Come!
00:13:13.25\00:13:17.76
Come over here."
00:13:17.96\00:13:19.49
Oh, how Jesus loves you.
00:13:19.83\00:13:21.63
Don't turn down that invitation.
00:13:21.66\00:13:23.63
The invitation of a lifetime.
00:13:23.83\00:13:26.40