Talk—Bill Prost
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Well, for those that are new in camp, I'll just repeat the announcement that I've made before and that is that the handouts are intended to be your copy for the rest of the time you're at camp. We do not have unlimited quantities and so that's why they're folded small, so they'll fit into your Bible or your Bible case if for some reason you feel you can't hang on to your copy.
Bring it back up after a meeting and we'll put it in the stack and.
Give you one next meeting. But as we've said before, please don't leave them lying on cheers or on the ground or something like that. They just get torn and trampled on and blowing around and so on. And then of course, we run short if we're not careful.
Let's have a word of prayer then. Our loving God and our Father, we look up to Thee this morning. And once again, what a thankful hearts we have for this beautiful weather and a good rest and the opportunity just to be apart from all the activities of everyday life and to be able to enjoy.
The our God and to learn more of thee and thy beloved Son.
We thank Thee for Thy word that is in our hands. We thank Thee that we can open it, and we just pray that Thou wilt use it in blessing to our souls. We do pray especially for any here who may not be saved. We pray our God that Thou wilt work in their hearts that they might realize their need of a Savior and come to Christ. But we pray too, that those of us who are thine own may have our souls refreshed and.
And that as we have before us, that we might come to know Thee more intimately and to be walking more closely with thee. So we commend our time together to thee, our God, and ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Well, I know there are a few people here that haven't been at camp.
Until maybe yesterday, and as you can see by the title of the handout.
The subject we have before us this year is knowing God.
And just to recap a little, we saw that God created man with the ability to relate to God, created him with a spirit that can recognize that there is a God, that knows deep down inside that there is a God and can communicate with God and.
Come to know him, and that's a wonderful privilege.
And so we saw going along and you'll see in the early parts of the handout there.
We talked about the creation of man and the creation of the universe, and we talked about how that man fell in the Garden of Eden by disobeying the one command that God had given him. And then we saw how that God had sent his beloved Son right down into the very world that had been spoiled by sin.
In order that we might be able to be restored.
Not to the Garden of Eden, but to something far, far better.
And that is to enjoy the Father's house in a coming eternity and to be able to know God in a way that even Adam in the Garden of Eden could not and did not know him. Pardon me, I'm just going to step over a little bit into the shade here, if that's all right. Not that I mind the sun so much, but I.
I can't see any of you very well.
There, that's a little better.
So today we are ready for Section 7, Section 7, and this is a very, very solemn thing to talk about.
Separation from God.
And it gives me no pleasure to talk about that subject.
But it's in the Word of God, and we would not be faithful to the Lord if we didn't discuss it, at least to some extent.
As we said earlier, God wants a relationship with His creature, and when God created Adam and Eve, He came down to that garden in the cool of the day in order to enjoy the company of His creature man.
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But when man sinned, he alienated himself from God. But as we said a moment ago, God provided a way through the death, blood shedding and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ so that we could be brought back to God. But, and it's a very important, but God does not force that on you and on me.
God offers salvation to us as a free gift.
Whether we accept it or not is up to us, and so God.
Presents salvation through the finished work of Christ. His precious blood has been shed.
It is power to cleanse from all sin. One, John one and seven, says the blood.
Of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin, and there's power in that blood to cleanse your sins away if you are willing to admit that you need a savior.
As some of you know, I've had the privilege of traveling to a few foreign countries and back in December, January of December of 2019 and in January of 2020, my wife and I and some others were in India and I met up with a woman from America and of course, she was delighted to see someone from.
This side of the world and who spoke her language.
Clearly. So we had a bit of a conversation, but it didn't last very long. When I started talking about Christ, I saw a dark cloud go over her face and she made it very clear that she didn't want to talk much more. I said to her, are you not interested in being saved? I'm a Buddhist. I'm a Buddhist.
Well, I said, Buddha didn't die for your sins.
Buddha can't wash away your sins. What are you going to do about your sins?
Before a holy God.
Sins. I don't have any.
And she turned and walked away.
She was blinded to the fact.
God's word says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and if you and I are honest with ourselves, we know that that statement is true.
Going back to our subject, God offers you salvation as a free gift.
But it is contingent upon your recognition that you are not merely a Sinner, but a lost Sinner, a helpless Sinner.
Satan has persuaded men that well, yes, you may be a Sinner, but if you do the best you can and live a good life and.
Try to do what a normal.
Proper righteous.
Citizen of his country should do. I'm sure everything will be all right.
Is that going to work before God when you have to stand before God?
Remember years ago when I was working in the Toronto General Hospital in Toronto, ON, and we were sitting in the lounge there, some of us a few nurses, and there was a so-called chaplain in the hospital there who was there to be a spiritual guide to people who wanted to speak to him.
So I spoke to him. I said, Sir, I would like to ask you a question. We had been introduced and we were chatting. I said I'd like to ask you a question.
Suppose that you were called to the bedside of a man who had terminal cancer, and he knew it, and he knew very well that he had at the most only a few days to live.
And I said, suppose he said to you, I'm afraid to die. I don't know where I'm going. I'm concerned about my soul and about my sins. I said, what would you tell him?
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What would you tell him?
And I was shocked. He said, oh, I would first of all make sure that all his affairs were in order. Did he need any help? Had he written his will? Had he put everything in order with his family and so on.
And I said, OK, that's good as far as it goes. But I said this man is concerned about far more serious things than that. He's concerned about what lies beyond death.
What would you tell him?
Oh, he said. I would assure him that he'd been a Goodman and that he had done the best he could.
And that everything was going to be all right.
Oh, yes, I said, Sir, you never. You don't know this man. You've never met him before. You've been called to his bedside because he's dying. But you don't know what he's what he's done in his life or what sort of things he's been going on with. How can you tell him that he's done the best he can? And on what basis do you say everything will be all right?
Well, Needless to say, we opened the word of God and we looked at it.
And by the end of the conversation, I don't take any credit for it. I can still see his face. He said, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. He said, you're using my textbook. And he said I can't. I don't know what to say. I'm overwhelmed. Well, I had to leave it there.
There's only one way to be saved, and that's through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We've been talking about knowing God.
But if you and I refuse to know God and we say in the words, this is one of Job's friends said these words thousands of years ago. He quoted he, he, he said these words and they're very true of many of mankind. They are saying to God, depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
And you can say that to God. You can tell him I don't want you. I don't want to know anything about you. I don't want to know anything about your beloved son.
That's much of the world today, and there's one name that this world doesn't like, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I don't like to keep telling stories on myself, but about three years ago my medical class had their fifty year reunion. 50 years since we graduated and they always have a banquet and I sometimes go. I don't always go.
But it's kind of interesting, among other things, to find out who's gotten saved.
And a number half. But as they were preparing for that banquet, I said, you know.
I would like the opportunity to give thanks for the food because I know that if I don't, nobody else will. And they said, that's right, you're free to give thanks.
Well, I said, you know, I know how to give thanks only in one way, and that is a Christian, and that's as a Christian.
And I was shocked at the reply. The reply was this. You can say anything you like when you give thanks, as long as you don't mention the name of Jesus Christ.
Ouch.
Ouch. That is the name this world does not want. They cast them out 2000 years ago. If he came to this world again, they would find some way to do it again. But back to our subject.
You know God is not mocked.
And if God has gone, shall we say, in reverent terms to the trouble?
Of sending his beloved son into this world and he has endured the agonies.
Not merely of what man did to him in nailing him to Calvary's cross, but he has gone.
Into death in the three hours of darkness on Calvary's cross.
He has suffered the wrath of a holy God against sin, which you and I cannot understand. God blanked the scene out with darkness so that no one could see what was going on. If God has done that and you or I turn our back on that and say I don't want it, I don't want to have anything to do with it.
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Then eventually God is going to take us up.
On the decision that we have made.
Sometimes things stand in the way. Let's turn to Mark's gospel for a few verses.
Chapter 9. Mark's Gospel. Chapter 9.
Verse 43. Mark Chapter 9 and verse 43.
And if thy hand offend thee, come.
It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell.
And into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye.
Than having two eyes to be cast into a Hellfire where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.
Very, very serious.
I don't believe all of that is meant to be taken strictly literally. It's simply to show that if there's anything in your life and mine that stands in the way of our being saved, whether it's some money, whether it's pleasure, whether it's fame, whether it's whatever may be our interest, if it stands in the way of your being saved.
It is not worth it.
It gives me no pleasure to talk about hell, but the Lord Jesus spoke about it far more than he spoke about heaven. Far, far more. In fact. I stand corrected on this, but I believe there are only a very, very small number, maybe two or three references to hell in the New Testament that don't fall from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus.
Spoke about hell. Why? Because he knew what an awful place it was. And he uses imagery which you and I can understand. I have heard people say, well something's wrong here because one verse says that hell is the blackness of darkness forever, and another verse says it's a lake of fire. Now how can those two be compatible?
I said to a man once. I said Sir.
Hell is far worse than either one of those, but God uses imagery to convey the worst possible thing that you and I could think of in this world.
Don't make fun and try and argue against what God is showing you.
It would be an awful thing to be put somewhere that was so black and so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
I've been there once. I remember being in the so-called Luray Caverns in Virginia. State of Virginia in the United States. Great big massive caverns. Fascinating to be in until they turn the lights out.
For a few minutes to let you see what it's like.
Awful experience, absolutely black underground, no light, whatever.
A lake of fire. Can you imagine anything worse than that?
I have had people say to me.
Could a loving God torture people for all eternity?
Scripture doesn't say that. Scripture doesn't say that.
What is the essence? And I gives me no pleasure to say this, but what is the essence?
Of hell.
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Every good thing that you have ever enjoyed in your life is a gift from God. I think everybody here with.
Very few exceptions. There might be a few people here that were not feeling good this morning, but.
In that food tent, most of the plates were pretty heaped up. Everybody was enjoying their good breakfast. Who provided that for you? God himself. Who gave you the appetite and the taste to enjoy it? The Lord who created that son so that you and I could bask in its warmth? Who created human relationships so that we could enjoy a warm hug we could enjoy.
Good friendships and so on. All those things, all the goodness of God.
Hell is the absolute absence of all the goodness of God. It is God saying if you don't want me.
Then everything that I am and everything that I have ever given, man, is going to be taken away from you forever. Forever.
Very, very solemn. I can't imagine anything worse than that. And.
We've brought it out here. I don't need to elaborate on this.
Except to say that.
There is a hell for a number of reasons and I remember once in a gospel meeting using the word hell was created.
And a brother afterward, and I was thankful for it, came up to me and said, Bill, that's not the right word, he said. Scripture never says that hell was created because creation implies.
Divine Design.
It says hell was prepared. There's a difference, and it wasn't made for man.
Excuse me a moment.
It wasn't made for man, it was prepared for the devil and his angels.
But if?
Man persists in following the devil.
It's not hard to understand where he's going to end up, is it?
And we'll just read one more verse because we're not going to go on. We're a bit late starting this morning, but turn to the Book of Revelation for.
One of the most solemn verses in the Bible, Revelation chapter 20.
Revelation chapter 20.
This is the final judgment of those who have gone into a lost eternity.
Now there will be those who are judged as living.
But the vast majority will be at what we have here called the great white throne, verse seven or verse 11. 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. No questions here about guilt or not guilty.
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 that should read Hades death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them.
And they were judged every man according to their works, and death. And Hades 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 will remember when our daughter was born quite a few years ago now, almost 50 years ago.
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And a godly sister.
Now with the Lord said to us, among other things, well.
This is another little life that will live as long as God lives. I'd never thought of it that way, but it's true. It's true. And here we find the final destiny of those who reject Christ. Death refers to the body.
Hades is not properly understood a place.
It is a condition. It's the condition of a soul without a body. That's the way the dead are right now. They're in the condition of a soul without a body. The bodies here, somewhere on earth, maybe it's in the sea. Some people die and their bodies are buried in the sea. That's happened many times in history. People have been devoured by wild animals.
As a woman who had enough money to do it, she died not too long ago, several years ago.
And her way of getting her body dealt with was to pay all the money to have her body, first of all cremated and then taken up into a satellite and scattered in space. I don't know what she thought, whether she figured that would be the way that God would never cause her to be resurrected. I don't know what, but that's what she did.
But God is going to bring the body back. Death is going to deliver up the body.
Hades is going to deliver up the Spirit. They will be reunited again to stand before this great white throne. And then it says Death and Hades, verse 14, were cast into the lake of fire.
Very, very solemn. They will never know God. They will be alienated totally from God for all eternity and from everything that God is. Well, we'll leave it there. We don't need to say anymore. We could go into further details about all this, but it's not necessary. I would only say there is, as we read here, a book of life.
And those who accept Christ as Savior, their names are written in that book of life.
There is still an opportunity for your name to be written in that book.
There is still the opportunity. God is waiting. He's been waiting nearly 2000 years since the death and resurrection of Christ for souls to be saved. And maybe He's waiting for you today if you're not saved.
Well, I'm going to sit down now. Maybe others have some comments to make, but.
It's a very, very solemn subject, and as I say, it gives me no pleasure to talk about it.
Children three years of up to.