Gospel—Matt Roach
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One to the Gospel meeting this evening. The gospel is the good news that God loved us so much that he sent his Son down to this earth to walk as a man so he could die to pay the penalty for our sins.
And even though it's too profound maybe for our minds to grasp the depth of his love and his mercy and his grace, the gospel message itself is very, very simple to understand. God has announced us to do a lot. He's done it all for us. Before we sing our first Him, I wanna be sure that I put forth the gospel message, message and all its simplicity. So does anyone is here tonight in their sins. They can make the choice for Christ while you sit in your seat. So we can turn to Romans chapter 3.
And verse 23.
We read for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Man has a problem and it spins.
We've fallen short of God's standards.
We turn it over to Roman 623.
It says for the wages of sin is death.
So man's problem of sin has earned him death. But the verse goes on. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We don't need to turn to it. We probably all know it. John 316 tells us more about that gift. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever leaveth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
And then Romans 10/9 tells us how we can avail ourselves of that free gift. Romans 10/9 says, If that if thou shall confess, and thine mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The gospel message is that man is a Sinner, but God loved him so much that he sent a gift, the gift of his Son, perfectly sinless, to die on that cruel Roman cross, to pay our penalty of sin so that we can stand before him someday clean.
And have eternal life. It's that simple. So tonight you're hearing your sins. Just need to reach out in faith and take a hold of that free gift. Can we send hymn #4 so we can start that for us. Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is the Savior for me. Long I was chained Into Darkness. Now by his grace I am free #4.
Prices as they got around 7 rockets let's say. Therefore anymore I want to train them since I'm darkness now why is the grace I am praying?
Slave the Roger.
'S like me.
So everything's fine, I can go after 7, three come around.
Stay in there for me.
Today you're all sharing my opinion.
Shall fingers walk born by ground?
Some lives in the state here for me.
Umm, let's say some of the three anniversary. I don't know how much I like how much.
And since I'm saying.
Stay away.
From your children say later on standards by community.
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Sharing is one for my friend. So long this turns out staying again before the evening.
Let's ask for God's help and word of prayer.
So, Tony, I'd like to turn to a passage in the Old Testament. I recently spoke on this in Morinville at our home assembly. So if I tread over some, uh, similar ground as before, I trust the board will give you.
A a message that's new and fresh. The book I want to turn to is the book of Habakkuk and it's in the minor profits. Start with Jonah, Mike, Obadiah.
Nam havaka.
Sometimes it's tough to pick up and read a minor profit and understand what he's saying. So I think it's important to understand the context of when this is written. So I'll give you a a brief history lesson to understand why this is written and when it was written. To go back about 3000 years, about 930 BC, the Kingdom of Israel following King Solomon's reign, divided into two parts, the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.
They had fallen into deep wickedness, and about 720 DC the Assyrians came in and wiped out the northern Kingdom as judgment, and that was prophesied in the book of Amos.
And then Habakkuk, who lived somewhere around 610 BC.
Wrote this prophecy of judgment coming against the southern Kingdom of Judah.
And that was fulfilled in 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar was armies from Babylon. Chaldeans came in and took many captives and killed many others. So this is the prophecy of Habakkuk of judgment coming against the southern Kingdom of Israel. And although it's a book that was written for a specific time and place point in history.
It speaks to the need of jud, uh, judgment.
Sin has to be punished, but it also brings forth the gospel to us. And we'll read read that in a moment in chapter 2 where it says the just shall live by his faith.
So I'd like to use this tonight as a warning of judgment that will come upon this world someday because of the wickedness that we see. And each man will have a debt to pay, but there's hope through the Lord Jesus. So let's start reading in chapter one and verse one.
The burden which Habakkuk to profit did see. Oh Lord, how long shall I cry? And I will not hear even cry out onto the violence, and that will not save. Why don't so show me iniquity and cause me to behold grievance, for spoiling and violence are before me. And there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slack, and judgment does never go forth, for the wicked does compass about the righteous. Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. So Ivaki is looking out on that southern Kingdom of Israel.
King of Judah, and he's crying out to the Lord. How much longer?
Will this end, this violence, this strife and contention? Go on.
He realized that God is a holy God and that this sin could not continue forever.
You read in verse four that the law was slacked in judgment that never go forth. The very institutions that were meant to uphold law and justice have become corrupt. You know, people look at this world today. It's really no different.
We see the some of the worst crimes. Punishment does not seem to fit.
Hit the crime, then go unpunished. The world is becoming callous to the violence that they see. We probably can all think of examples of this. Remember a news article from 2008 about a man named Tim McLean who is riding on a bus from Edmonton, AB to his hometown of Winnipeg? Aman sat beside my perfect stranger. His name was, uh, Vince Lee. He had never spoke on that trip. Tim McLean fell asleep leaning against the window with earphones on.
Without warning, Vince Lee pulled out a knife and severed off the man's head. A brutal act. It was broadcast around the world. Feel that today, Vince Lee walks free.
Where is the punishment for sin? He's given unsupervised day passes to visit the city of Winnipeg. Seven years ago, he killed a man in a most brutal fashion, yet it goes unpunished.
The world we live in is not unlike what Habakkuk is talking about here. The law is flat judgments that never go forth, and when it does go forth, it says that wrong judgment proceeded. The wicked surround the righteous and we see today not only is the loss locked, but the law is now protecting some of those evils that 20 years ago we would cringe at. The law protects the women's right to kill an onborn child.
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The law is increasingly protecting those that engage in homosexuality.
Doctor assisted suicide, It's a culture of death.
Wrong judgment proceeded.
Isaiah does provide us a warning in chapter 5 about this type of society. Isaiah 5 and verse 20.
Says, Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. What went to them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sights, own sight? What went to them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink, which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him?
Our world today.
Rewards the wicked at the expense of the righteous.
In January of 2013, there was a couple in Portland, OR who owned a bakery. They owned a bakery. It was called Sweet Cakes by Melissa.
Two women went into that shop in 2013 and wanted a cake made for their wedding.
The couple that owned the bakery were Christians for these two women that wanted to marry each other while the owners of that bakery were sued for discrimination and they lost that case. They had to close their bakery and pay penalty to this couple. Woe unto that nation that calls good evil and evil good.
You know, we could look at that and many of us in this room are are saved. We've accepted Christ as our Savior and we look out at this world and its its wickedness and its vileness and we see in it the coming of Christ. It has to happen soon provides a sign of the end times.
And maybe someone in this room who's on save is looking out at that world as well.
And maybe they're finding solace in the fact that the world is so evil and so corrupt. Maybe you feel that you're better than folks out there. You see that even listen, you recognize it. And you think I'm a pretty good person. Sure, God will forgive me.
But the standard against which you'll be judged is not other men. You may be more good than 90% of the population, but the standard against which you will be judged is God. You read earlier in Romans 323 that all has sinned to come short of the glory of God. It's not all have sinned, and some are better than others. No, it's against God's holy standard. Man has to be punished and man will be compared to God and not to other men. So Habakkuk is crying out about the violence in in, uh, southern Kingdom.
Of Judah, and in verse five the Lord answers him.
And he says, Behold he among the heath, and in regard and marble wondrously.
For I will work a work in your days which you will not believe, though be told you. For lo, I raise up to Chaldeans that bitter and hasty nation which shall March through the breadth of the land to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful. Their judgment and their dignity shall proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves. And their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from afar, and they shall fly the eagle that hasteth to eat. They shall come all for violence.
And their faces shall step up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity of the sand.
They shall scoff at the kings, and the Princess shall be a scorn onto them, and they shall deride every stronghold. They shall heap dust and take it. Then shall his mind change. He shall Passover and offend, imputing this his power onto his grave.
We see a vivid picture here of judgment.
The Chaldeans, the Babylonians that are Nebuchadnezzar, probably had the one of the strongest militaries the world has seen to that point, and here they were coming in judgment against the southern Kingdom. 7 verse five. They shall March the breadth of the land. Picture that horizon to horizon, an army thundering towards this Kingdom.
They're terrible and dreadful. They're horses, swifter than leopards, more fierce in the evening wolves. It's not a pleasant picture, I know. I live close to a train set of train tracks and when the train goes by I can feel the ground rumbling.
I can imagine with a huge cowardly charging towards this city would have been a terrifying, terrifying warning for those people, knowing that judgment was coming and knowing that they really had no way of escape. It says that these child needs are coming all for violence. They're very purposeless violence.
Coming to punish those people for their sin in a temporal way. Anyway, on this earth, you know that the final judgment will come from God, that God is using these Chaldeans that punishes His children of Israel.
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Says they will gather the captivity as the sand, nothing left untouched, killing and carrying away captive many of those from the southern Kingdom. There's a lot of the kings and the Princess and they'll derive the strongholds. No walled city would hold them back. They'll knock it down and say they'll heat up and take the next one, swarming over the walls in judgment.
Seven verse 11 That this mighty power put away all thought of God, and look at his own strength as his power.
And you know.
That we have to face the judgment someday, it says in verse 12.
Are there not member lasting? Oh Lord my God, my holy one, we shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment, and Almighty God, thou hast established them for correction. That mighty Babylonian army.
As powerful and unstoppable as they seemed.
We're in God's hand as a rod of correction for His people. That powerful army was, so to speak, in the hand of God.
As terrifying as that would have been for these people, consider how terrifying it will be to stand before that one that has the power to bring that judgment against this nation, that God that created every one of us, that God that can see right into your heart, you know, everything you've thought, everything you've done, everything you've said.
And none will escape it. It says in Psalms 14 the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They're all gone aside and all together become filthy. There is none to do with good. No, not once.
Says in Hebrews 413. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open in the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Someday, if you're unrepentant in your sin, you'll stand before that creator God you can see in your very heart. You will know whether or not you've accepted the way of salvation although everything that you've done.
Says in Hebrews 1031, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, and it truly is. And we can read about the judgment that will come upon man. He's on repentance in his sins. Turn the Revelation chapter 20 for a moment.
Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11.
This is the apostle John writing this saw a vision from the Lord and he wrote.
These words, chapter 20, verse 11 of Revelation. And I saw a great white throne in him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there's found no place in them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged that are those things that were written in these books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which are in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which are in them. And they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. The judgment brought against the southern Kingdom of Judah with a temporal punishment.
Was delivered here on this earth for their sin. This is a final judgment, the judgment that will determine the judgment that will have the consequence of eternal damnation in the lake of fire.
We turn back to the book of Habakkuk. We read chapter 13.
This is why God cannot have sinned in his presence. This is why it must be judged verse 13 of our chapter that were to pure eyes and to behold evil and can't not look on iniquity.
God cannot have sin in his presence. He is too holy and pure, and he is just, and he must punish that sin.
In chapter 6 of Isaiah, the prophet, Isaiah writes in the vision that he had where he saw the Lord seated on his throne. And Isaiah was a prophet of God, probably a man that we could say is more righteous than anyone in this room, a man of God. He found himself in the presence of the Lord. He didn't think for a moment that he was worthy of being there. Isaiah said what was mean, Brian undone. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.
God's holiness cannot tolerate sin, and it must be brought under judgment.
And if we were to read through the remainder of chapter one, we see Habakkuk speaking to the Lord and saying, Lord, you brought in the Chaldeans and they're more wicked in the Southern Kingdom and the people who are in the Southern Kingdom, and you're not going to judge them as well. If you read through the rest of chapter 2, we'd see that the Lord assures a backup that all will be judged. The Chaldeans as well. They'll be judged for their idolatry, their sexual immorality, their drunkenness, their pride, and their greed. No one will escape judgment.
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The Chaldeans are used at a point in time by God.
To judge his people.
And you know, it says, uh, in Act 1731.
He has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. There is a judgment coming and we need to prepare for it. We need to own our sin. If you read in chapter 2, verse one.
About IK speaking, I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he shall say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readathon.
For the vision as yet for an appointed time, but at the end she'll speak and not lie. Though with Terry. Wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not Terry.
Lord tells them to write it down. Give the people warning.
That he may run, that readeth it with a message of judgment, he says in verse three. Although it's not gonna happen right away, it's going to happen.
It will surely come. No escape.
And God has appointed that day in which He will judge this world as well. The day we believe is fast approaching.
But a warning has little use if there's no escape. So there is a warning given in verse two to write it down so people can see it. I'd like to, if you'll bear with me, I'd like to do a little survey by show of hands. Who is who hears from Saint John, Put your hands up. Saint John area, Ross, that counts groups, put your hands up. You can leave them out for me. How many have seen these signs along our highways?
How many keep your hands up? How many know what these mean?
OK, a few hands went down.
St. John's industrial city. It has an oil refinery. It has a liquefied natural gas terminal. It has some chemical plants, some things that could leave a crater. In the middle of Saint John, there was an explosion or uncontrolled fire. So the city of Saint John has put together an evacuation plan. If they throw in a warning, those living in the city are to follow these lines to safety. And yet how many people has put their hands down because they see them every day and they don't know what they mean? We could get a warning.
In the city of Saint John, and there's a way of escape that nobody knows it. I had to ask about 10 people to find out these fines. Man, it was bugging me so I looked it up. It's an emergency plan to exit the city. You live in my direction. You exit toward Fredericton. I'm sure there's a passage through Ross Day that directs you, umm, inland as well.
But if Saint John throws out a warning that something is going to happen in that city, how many citizens of that city know there's a way of escape? A warning has no benefit if there's no path to safety.
But it's provided to us in verse four of our chapter.
After saying the judgment is short and that it will come, it says, Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright within him. Let's the just shall live by his faith there is promise of life.
Life through faith.
But it says here that just shall live by faith.
Share some verses tonight that say that all have sinned. So who can be just?
Is that just to live by faith? You know God is holy and all men have sinned. How can we be considered just?
While the truth is not fully revealed in the Old Testament.
But it's fully revealed to us in this day of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ came down to the scene as a just, holy man.
You walk around this earth doing good, healing the sick, raising the dead, giving the blind sight, feeding the poor and hungry.
And he was rejected, that righteous just man, and he went willingly to that Roman cross so that his punishment for us can put us on that just foundation, that foundation that will allow our sins to be erased from God's memory. I heard an illustration of the Gospel this way. There was a sort of a justification through faith this way. There was a caravan, umm, back in, I don't know what the probably the early 1800s of, of pilgrims going out West.
Heading to Oregon on the Oregon Trail, and one day they saw in the distance a raging brush fire, grass fire coming towards them. They're in the middle of the Prairie. There's no place to go.
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Strong winds are pushing this fire towards them.
So some quick thinking men in the group organized, uh, some controlled fires, and they burned a large swath of grass all around them.
Then they moved all of their belongings and all of the people onto this burnt grass, and the fire raged towards them. And as it was about to come to them, this little girl cried out in fear that we're going to die. But a man knelt down beside her and said no, he won't. The ground we're standing on has already been burnt.
That fire can't get us. We are standing on ground that has already been judged, and that's the way it is for us today. Our sins were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who walked the scene as a man without sin and his punishment for our sins, that we can be declared righteous.
We can follow turning to Romans, we can read some more details of the gospel, the fulfillment through the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5.
Romans 5 and verse six it says, For when we are yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, for scarcely for a righteous man, on one die, yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ didn't die for the righteous or the good. He died for sinners.
And it says in verse 9, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. It's only on his basis, only on the blood that he shed on that cross. And we have that redemption, that justification that declares us, umm, sinless in God's sight. Verse 10 For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the depth of his Son, much more being reconciled we shall have, we shall be saved by his life.
Not only so, but we shall joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the Atonement.
Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men.
Or that all have sinned.
Now back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were deceived by that serpent and they took of that tree that they were told not to eat from.
Because of that one sin, the curse of sin has fallen on man. We have all sinned. And there are those that have trouble with that. They don't believe we're born in sins. You know, I have a three-year old and since he was a little baby, we've tried to teach him to be obedient, to come when he's called, to share, to not get angry at mommy and daddy, but he does. We didn't teach him that. We taught him the opposite. We taught him how to listen, how to behave.
And yet we see that simple nature come out. We could say he learned from his older brother.
But where does older brother learn it? It's in eight. It's within us. We're not centered because we sin. We're centered because we're born sinful and only that shed blood of Christ can save us.
The next few verses, 13 to 17, are a parentheses, so let's go to verse 18 to pick up the thought from verse 12.
And therefore, as by the offensive one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
One man brought sin into the world, and since then all men have sinned.
But the depth of one man brought a salvation.
Salvation that allow each one that reaches out in faith to be declared righteous in God's sight.
Be declared righteous and avoid the penalty of sin.
For his one by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall show many he made righteous. Moreover, the law entered, that the offense might abound. But we're sin abound to grace, and much more abound that as sin have reigned onto death, Even so might grace reign to righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I mentioned earlier, started the meeting. The message is simple.
It's profound in its depth. We can't fully grasp it as a human with our finite minds.
But the message is so simple. It's a reach of faith to that work that's been done for us.
And you know to tell this in Romans 1.
That God has given man no excuse.
All men are aware of their sinfulness. Let's turn to Romans. Actually, Romans one. We'll read that.
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Start in verse 16.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the June 1St, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteous righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, Just shall live by faith. It's a quote from Habakkuk. The just shall live by faith. Apostle Paul quotes it three times in the New Testament. It's the very essence of the gospel. Life through faith justification based on that paid debt.
The justification that can be obtained by a look of faith on Christ says in verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness.
Because that it may be may because that which may be known of God is manifest onto them, for God has showed it onto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
God has given man the knowledge that he exists.
And the very creation of the world, the evidence is there. Man knows. And his unrighteousness, he tries to push that away. He tries to ignore the fact that deep in man's heart he knows that he is a Sinner and needs salvation. Pardon me for a personal story, but there's a man that lives across the street from me. His name is Mike. And us, those in the room to pray for Mike, I don't believe he's saved. He's a very friendly man, very talkative.
And quite often he'll come over into my yard and, uh, talk to me. And sometimes it's very hard to end the conversation with Mike. He's very chatty. The other day he came over and we started talking and he was his usual happy, chatty self. I noticed that he took a glance at the ground and from that point on, Mike tried to end the conversation, got awkward and he walked away. And I stood there and think, that's odd. He was chatty. And suddenly, suddenly he became kind of self-conscious and walked away.
I happen to look down and on my driveway with sidewalk chalk with a large crosstrawn. My daughter is out there playing and around that cross are the words Jesus died for sinners. I looked around my driveway. It was written in 10 different places.
Jesus died for sinners, and I believe Mike looked down.
And those simple words on the pavement pricked his conscience and he looked to end the conversation. I trust that those words will stay with Mike and that he'll come to a full realization that he is a savior. But it was just simple words on pavement prick his conscience. That's the power.
Of this book, God has imprinted that knowledge of man's heart. There's no excuse. You see the evil around us.
You know, I heard someone mentioned the other day, I think it was here at the conference, maybe in one of the meetings actually, where when you look at the news, all you see in the headlines is the evil of man, Immorality, greed, lust. Is that all that happens in the world? Not really. There are some good things that happen, but there's a thing within us that wants to see that. They know that sells. Man loves his wickedness.
Yet God has imprinted that on His heart so that He is without excuse.
If you read on in this passage of Romans.
Uh, Red du verse 20, verse 21 because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
The verse in this song, the pass, the reference escapes me, but it says the fool is set in his heart. There is no God.
There's an innate knowledge within us and to deny it man has become a fool. We see that today in the world.
Man has latched on to that theory of evolution. We want to deny that there was a creator.
So they latch on to that theory of evolution, a theory that has no foundation, theory that has many holes in it takes more faith to believe that than that there's a creator.
Yet man has professed themselves to be wise, and they have become fools.
And change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, to the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the Creator, the creature more than the Creator, who was blessed forever on them. I don't know if the the thought in verse 25 has to do with environmentalism or not.
But it says that they worship the creature more than the creator.
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How many people do you see in this world today who deny God? They put all their effort into saving the earth. Man needs a 'cause he knows there's something missing, so he fills it with vain attempts to try to improve life.
And yet.
At the base of it all, man has that realization that they need a savior.
And we don't know when that day of judgment will come. We don't know if you'll have the advantage of a deathbed where you can consider your life and make a last minute or make a decision for Christ in a comfortable time period. This meeting could be over and price could come.
Some of you may have read the news 2 weeks ago, a man named David Goldberg. David Goldberg was the founder and CEO of a Silicon Valley IT company, a multi billion dollar company. His wife is the Chief Operating officer of Facebook. He was 47 and they have two young children.
He was probably a man that many looked up to could afford the best pleasures in life.
You can afford the best medicine if he or his children got sick, can afford afford the best playthings, yachts, fancy houses, probably have security guards. Well, David Goldberg was vacationing in Mexico.
47 Who is running on a treadmill?
He fell, hit his head in eternity.
I'm sure the last thing in David Goldberg's mind was the question of life or death while he was running on that treadmill. He's probably thinking that he's improving his life through fitness.
Drop dead in eternity. I don't know the state of David Goldberg's soul.
I trust and hope that he had made a decision for Christ, but there's no warning. Sorry. There is a warning, but there's no timing. The time is now.
God has quoted that first, earlier, and Romans 17.
Roman 17 and verse 31.
So I got that reference wrong of Acts very Acts 301731, Acts 1731.
Act 17, verse 31.
Let's go back in verse 30 I said that's the time that this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent because he had the point of the day in the which you will judge the world in righteousness by that man we have to ordained.
Whereof he has given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. That's the Lord Jesus Christ, the day appointed. We don't know when it is. Again, as we look into this world, we can sense the end is near. This world is ripening for judgment.
Just like that southern Kingdom of Judah had ripened her judgment and God sent in those those Chaldeans as punishment. God has established today when He will judge everyone who is still in their sins. No escape, no excuse, the judgment will come.
And you know, when we accept Christ as our Savior, God promises that it will remember our sins no more forgotten. We turn to Hebrews chapter 8.
Hebrew chapter 8 and verse 12.
Says for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities. Will I remember no more, not just forgiven, allotted out no record. It says in Psalm 103 as far as the east is from the West. So far have to remove our transgressions.
He's a faithful and holy God. His promise is that you reach out in faith and accept the sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ made on that cross to pay for your sins. That Christ's righteousness will be your own as you can stand before him someday, free from sin. No stain of corruption doesn't mean that we don't sin after we're saved. But the power of that blood has forgiven us, cleansed us from all unrighteousness.
And you know, tonight I focus a lot.
On the warning aspect of the Gospel, and it is a warning.
The Lord Jesus, I think, think more than anyone spoke of hell. He wanted people to know that there's a consequence for their action.
The gospel is a warning, but it's so much more.
We didn't deserve to be forgiven, but God and His love and His grace forgave us and that could be it. We could be forgiven and not subject to an eternity of punishment. But God went further. He provided us and offers us eternal life.
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An eternal life with Him and glory. It's not only should you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior to be forgiven, but it gives you access to eternity of joy. We turn to Revelation 21. We can read about this joy.
Revelation 21, and we'll start at first one.
And I saw new heaven and a new earth for the first earth. So sorry, for the 1St heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things, or passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Right, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end I will give on to him. That is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Not only forgiveness, but life.
That one, He was faithful and true, that His words are faithful and true. It's a promise to you tonight that by reaching out in faith, you'll be forgiven. You'll be given access to untold blessing and the glory with Him. There are many in this room.
We will be sharing eternity with because of God's grace. If anyone in this room has not accepted God's gift, please do so.
Don't wait. There's no promise of tomorrow.
Except that gift of salvation so that you can be forgiven and spend eternity in heaven with the Lord. Get your name written down on that book of life.
You know, there's nothing that we do on our own that gets us salvation. It's not works based knowing that.
And the religion of Islam, the false religion, they just have to say a phrase called the shahada and they become a Muslim. But even within their own faith, their own belief, becoming a Muslim doesn't save them. They're still an unknown. It's a balance of good works against evil works. And even then, their God, Allah.
Could be arbitrary in his judgment. No hope.
But the truth of God's Word is that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. There's no question. When you accept the gift of salvation, it is done. It is a finished work. When you accept them into your heart, there's no potential for being lost. It's not in your hands. God made the sacrifice. He completed the work on the cross, and all we have to do is reach out and accept that, and we're in God's hands, save for eternity, taken out of the scene of sorrow.
It was seen when there's no more tiers, no more death, no sorrow, no crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
I will give on to him as the thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. It's a free gift. It's a gift of life. Life through faith in God and the finished work of Christ in that cross.
I'd like to finish the meeting tonight by singing hymn #10.
There is a Savior on high in the glory, a Savior who suffered in Calvary's tree. A Savior is willing to save. Now as ever. His arm is almighty, His love great and free. Perhaps we can stand.
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So, umm.
Give me some further grounds together.
Like me.
And reserves.
One day.
I don't know. I believe that God's strength of our land and now it is all the time. I can't run on the moon.
And the library today in the heart of God.
Thou may be gentlemen out of my heart and the gentleman's heart. Don't think it's all the brilliant little.
Call personal operating standing. Is is is making a problem on your credit card? Is there anything there are?
How to kill results that you're on. Please speak to me and then there's no man as I am living in shall be in love.
We'll come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior, see you in this moment, and peace shall be bind.
Instantaneous piece. There's no waiting period. Simply accept it by faith. You'll be forgetting of your sins and saved from that horrible judgment that will come and prepare for an eternity. With Him is bow our heads and commend the meeting into His hands.
Our God and Father.