Would you turn with me this morning? I'm going to talk with you this morning about being twice dead. You don't have to turn to Jude, you can turn over to Revelation with me, Revelation 20. The portion that I'm especially dealing with is a portion that I'll read to you, you don't have to turn to this, from Jude, that says about these type people, there are spots in your feasts of love when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. clouds they are without water, carried about of winds, trees, whose fruit withereth." Pardon me. Everybody could cough with me that time, all right? Sort of unison, you know, we can And then it says, clouds without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, terrible description, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now, First, let me set in divine order, I think, the sequence of events that will occur from the point where we stand in history concerning man and the plan of God. We're standing right now in the age of grace so that we pretty much know what I'm discussing when I discuss the second death. We're now in the age of salvation through faith, the age of grace, and God's great gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation has always been by faith. The law never was a means of salvation. Remember that. When God gave the law to Moses, he said to Moses, take this law of the Lord thy God and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant that it may be held as a witness against mankind. So the law was always a witness against man. Paul says in Galatians that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. In other words, the minute you looked at the law, you'd recognize that you had no capacity to fulfill it. You'd know you'd have to find some other way to get to God. And so, whether it's in the Old Testament or the New Testament, salvation is always by faith. God provides a way. When he gave the law, he gave the blood sacrifice. In other words, he gives the law, and with the other hand, he says, I know you'll never be able to meet it. You've asked for it. I give it to you. Paul says that the law came that the trespass might exceed, in other words, that there would be then trespassing the known commandments of God. Sin was in the world before the law came, but once the law came, it made that sin so clarified, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not. And God gave it to Israel, but with it he also had to give the blood sacrifice so that the law of commandments was in the ark of the covenant Above it was the mercy seat, and then the blood once a year was put upon the mercy seat, so that when God looked upon the law, he would see the blood over it, which said, a sacrifice has been made for sin, a remembrance made for sin by Israel and by the high priest. And Israel's sins are covered for another year. And so this was the law. The law never saved a soul. The law always has been a ministry of condemnation and of death. It's ministry tremendous throughout the earth. When God gave it to Israel, he made very clear its purpose. If we went back to Deuteronomy, we would find that when God gave the law to Israel, he not only said, this is for Israel, but he said, and all the nations of the earth, shall look upon thee, and this law, and their governments shall be by this law." May I remind you that practically all of the governments of the earth, all the governments, including Russia, including all the governments, substantially the Ten Commandments are the base of law. I'll never forget the words of Disraeli, the Prime Minister, who was a Jew, and of course this was tremendously critical, a Jew Prime Minister of England. And one of the ones in Parliament, one of the Lords said, but you're a Jew, how can you be Prime Minister of England? And he looked at this man and he said, let me say this, when your forefathers were foraging in the forest for food. My forefathers were setting down the decalogue of God by which you shall run your nation." Tremendous, tremendous. And so here is the law of God. And yet it is not that which saves the soul, it is by grace we are saved through faith. And so, as we read this portion in Jude, where he talks to us about those who will be twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever, we have to think of the order in scriptures of certain events happening. Look at us right now where we are. we're saved by grace and that alone. We are in the household of faith. We are in the household of God. God is our Father, and we are his sons through faith in Jesus Christ. This is our position right now. Then we have one thing as a church that we're looking forward to, and this is that which differentiates us, I might say, the church. dynamic and evangelistic from all others. We are looking to the Lord's coming. Looking unto that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Son of God in the clouds of heaven to take us to himself. This is what we're looking to. And so the church, the next event for you and for me is the coming of Christ to take his church to himself before the coming of the great tribulation upon the face of this earth." A great tribulation is coming, the likes of which God says has never happened upon this earth. He says, unless those days should be shortened, little flesh shall live on the face of the earth. That's what the politicians are yelling about now. You never heard this before. I've lived long enough to remember that in the wars that I have seen, There never was the thought of this day that little flesh shall live on the face of the earth. And God is saying, unless those days be shortened, little flesh shall live on the face of the earth. For men's hearts will fail them for fear, he says, for looking at those things which are coming upon the earth. And so we're living in this day that is unbelievable. As I was reading the paper the other day, I had cut out a little piece that had to do with this, and it struck me as something that certainly made very clear to me what God was speaking about. This is former President Johnson speaking. Listen to this, and then think of the little flesh living on the face of the earth. there's a divine judgment coming from God that will be far beyond even what this is saying here. But notice what man can do. He says, the U.S. today, this is quoting President Johnson, has nuclear firepower that works out to the equivalent of 30,000 tons of TNT for every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth. Can you conceive of that? That is 60 million pounds of TNT for you, for you. He says, the only other nation on earth that has similar destructive force to ours is the Soviet Union. Theirs is a little smaller. But he says the average human being wouldn't be able to detect the difference of whether he's hit with 30,000 tons or 15,000 tons of TNT at one time. And this is through nuclear power. And this is what we're facing in this present day. Now, the Church is waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when he comes for his church, if you've been here on Wednesday night, we're discussing 1 Thessalonians, the fourth chapter, which has to do with the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. to meet the Lord in the clouds and in the air, and then shall we ever be with the Lord. Comfort ye one another with these words." And I want to say, if ever we needed comfort, it's now. If ever human hearts needed comfort, it's now. And so God says, comfort ye one another with these words. And so the translation of the church, that's what we're waiting for, to be caught out, as 2 Thessalonians say, that we may escape that wrath which is to come upon the face of this earth. So when the church has been caught up, and with Christ certain wonderful things happen in heaven, and certain things are happening on earth, I'm so glad that we're going to be in the pavilion of heaven when these things happen on earth, aren't you? I don't say that we'll escape an atomic war. I don't know. You may not escape the judgment of man, but you are going to escape the judgment of God. And the judgment of God is coming in the battle of Armageddon. Oh, I can remember General MacArthur talking about the battle of Armageddon. I've listened to the presidents mention it now and then, but I think, honestly, in most of their minds it is a phrase that has somehow become part of man. But there will be a battle of Armageddon. And while the church is in glory with its Savior, two things are happening in heaven for you and for me, if I may say this. And I want to talk of this before I talk of the second death, because unless you know where you stand, the second death, some people have an idea that there is but one general judgment. The world today, if we were to look around us and ask people, you'd find a great percentage say, I believe in God. If you ask them about judgment, you would find that a lot of them will say there is going to be a general judgment. Everybody is going to appear together before God, and at that time we'll find out whether we're going to heaven or going to hell. Now, I want to say this is about as unscriptural as anything you've ever seen. There is a judgment seat of Christ, which is what will be happening in heaven to the church when down on earth the great tribulation, Jacob's trouble, Israel's trouble comes upon the face of the earth. And up in heaven will be the judgment seat of all believers. They're judged differently, not for sin, because their sin bearer bore all their sins. You will never be judged for sin again. Can I tell you that, everyone? You'll never be judged for sin if you're a believer, because the sin question is settled upon the cross of Calvary. If it wasn't, Jesus need never have come. We could have gone along with the Old Testament sacrifices. But Jesus came that he might place our sins in the deeper most parts of the sea and might remember them no more. He says, he that is dead is freed from sin. Don't you understand, he said? What would be the penalty for the vilest of all sins you could ever commit? And you have to say death. And he says, yes, I suffer death for every man that I might bring you to God. Don't you understand the sin question is taken care of? You will never be judged for sin because sin is taken care of. You will never be judged for sins, because sins are taken care of, because Christ was not made sins. Christ was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made, what? The righteousness of God in him. Never me. Listen, I still have that old flesh, that corruptible flesh. Paul says, here's a man whose faith is so powerful and so strong and so vibrant, and he looks at himself and he says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of my death? For in my flesh I know there dwells no good thing. The only good thing that dwelt in him was the indwelling Holy Spirit. And so, at that judgment seat of Christ, it will not be a matter of sins. The Corinthian epistle says, we shall all appear, believers, at the judgment seat of Christ to answer for the deeds, put a big circle around that, deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad, not sin now. What have you done with your salvation since you're saved? That's what God's asking you. When we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What is the reason for confession? The reason for confession is that you can't have fellowship with your Father in heaven. He's your Father. He'll never change. Do you think that God's your Father one day and not the next? Then you've made him less than an earthly father, so let's not even talk about it. If your earthly father knows how to give you good gifts, how much more should your heavenly father give to them than love him? Your earthly father gave you fleshly life. What kind of life do you think your heavenly father gave you? Eternal life. John 10, 28, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And what? Neither shall any pluck them from my hand. Right? When you're trying to find scriptures that say you can get lost, forget it, I can give you a hundred that say you're saved eternally. Saved eternally, our Heavenly Father, sin has been taken care of. If Christ paid the penalty, it's finished. In that he died, he died unto sin once. In that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God." That's it. I don't need anything more. God, how glorious is thy salvation to know it, to be a redeemed man and to walk the earth with your head high and looking unto the holy things that are yet to come and the promises of a living God. How tremendous this is. to walk in the freedom of the Spirit of God, whosoever the Son hath made free, he's free indeed. You see, this is it, freedom of soul. Have you freedom of soul today? Perfectly free! You're not worried about salvation, you're not worried about the world, even though it's a trial and a burden, and you do everything you can to help, but you're not worried because you know you belong to Christ and nobody can take you out of the hand of Jesus Christ. Do you know Him this morning? Do you really know Him? We will all appear at the judgment seat of Christ to answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad. What have you done since you've come into the body of Christ? You belong to Him. It says Christ is the head of the body and we're members of His body and of His flesh and of His bones. Do you think once you're put in, He tears you out and throws you out? The whole principle of the crucifixion was they broke not a bone on his body. The whole principle of the crucifixion was that they couldn't do anything to him with part of his body and of his flesh and of his bones. He says, no man taketh my life from me. I lay it down of myself and I take it up of myself. And so we appear at the judgment seat of Christ. We've been translated. Listen, this is what we're waiting for, beloved. This is what you're waiting for this morning, the translation of your glorified and wondrous moment when you shall receive that glorified body fashioned like unto the body of Jesus Christ. And the dead in Christ rising together, glorified, O husbands and wives, let me say this to you. You'd better love like you never loved before. You'd better love your children like you've never loved before. If this is the coming of the Lord that we're really waiting for and yearning for and we talk about it and we say everything is in perfect position, Israel is nearly back in the land, Russia is in the position in relationship to the Arabs they should be, Israel there, China the kings of the east ready to march, Go back to Ezekiel, you can find all of this from 36 to 40, and all of these things in perfect position, and they slowed the cadence in the church, for in the last days, God says there shall be a falling away. Now, I hear some preachers on the television say there's going to be, they've got their prophecies mixed up, there's going to be a tremendous revival. Don't you fool yourself. There may be little spots of revival in Melbourne and this place and that place, but I want to tell you Russia is not going to be swept with the gospel of Christ because it is a godless place and is on the godless side in the final war. And so is China. So that three quarters of the population of the earth are on the side of Satan in the final war with Israel. And so when they tell you there's going to be a great sweeping of the earth with revival, they'll have to deny the words of Jesus. He says coldness will be on the face of the earth when I come. It will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. It will be like Lot. And there'll be a departing from the face. So for some preacher to get on the radio and the television and begin to say there's going to be great revivals sweep the earth. I want to tell you, Billy Grahams has been preaching for how long? 20 years to the largest crowd that have ever been preached to upon the face of this earth. And as Billy has said himself, I haven't made one little imprint upon the world. And there are millions more lost today than the day I started preaching. So when we begin to talk these things, beloved, we have to recognize that there are terrible days coming upon this earth. You may say, well, he's a pessimist. No, I'm a Biblicist. I believe the Bible. I believe God at His Word. And I believe that if Jesus speaks, that's it. And I believe that if we understand that you and I are going to have to face that judgment seat and the moment of our translation is very close, the Lord Jesus is coming for His own. If you really believe that with me, you'll yearn and yearn and yearn. Number one, that your life will shine for God and your loved ones will be saved. You know, I don't know how to say this. How can I How can I say it so that you understand that unless a soul knows Christ as Savior, He is life? His own words say, in my Father there is life. And he hath given the same life to his son, and to whosoever the son shall give life, they shall have life indeed. And upon this principle, husband, wife, I sometimes, my heart breaks. Someone says to me, I'll come to church when my husband begins to come, or I'll come to church when my wife begins to come, or the children begin to drift away and you begin to drift away. I don't know what you believe in. I really don't know what you believe in. Do you really believe in the Savior? This has nothing to do with anybody else in all the world. Jesus warned you, I will bring, I came not to bring peace but a sword for there'll be divisions between husbands and wives and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters and their families. He warned you of this. What did you expect? And then to tell me that because somebody doesn't come to church, you don't come to church. I don't think that this can be possible when your heart is really on fire for Jesus Christ. Who do you have faith in? Certainly it's not Pastor Guillen, certainly it's not Franklin Abner, certainly it's not the Baptist group. God deliver us from ever thinking all the Baptists have the inner road. It's a personal faith in Jesus. And if once we could see ourselves at that judgment seat of Christ, can you see yourself actually standing there, actually standing there? See yourself. Try to get a vision of this. Don't look at the church. Don't say, I'm going to stand with Franklin Avenue and I'll get lost in the crowd. It isn't that way. It's personal. We must, each one, stand before the judgment seat of Christ to answer. Imagine, to answer for the deeds done on the body, whether they be good or bad. Now, I suppose when I say that sometimes, you know, people say, I guess I'm on the good side of the ledger. I haven't done this, and I haven't done that, and I haven't done this, but I have to say what you have done. God is going to judge. What you have done, what are you doing? We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God before ordained that we should walk in them as His children of light, to walk in them. So the judgment seat of Christ is for you and for me. And beloved, if there are those in your family who are lost, may I tell you they'll be separated from you for all eternity. And I want to make it as clear, as hard, as terrible as I can because I love you, Paul says, do I love you the less because I tell you the truth? Of course not. Even Christians can get to the point where they say, well, Mother's such a nice woman, or Daddy was always so good to me, or my son is rather a good boy. Now, Mother, you know better, and Father, you know better, if you're a Christian, the only principle upon which we're redeemed is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is what? None of his. How do I receive the Spirit of Christ? Through faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock, Jesus says. If any man open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me. And so, beloved, there is this great need. Oh, do you think I like thinking that possibly I'll never see my mother and father again? I may not. They died when I was a boy. I was only 12 years old. How do I know? I don't know. Did you think that affects my faith one iota? Not one iota. Having found Christ and experiencing the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, if all the world would forsake me and leave me all alone, I could cling but to Jesus and nothing else. If my own wife was to leave me and my children were to leave me, I could do nothing else but cling to Jesus and the cross of Christ for my redemption. because there is nothing, because the world is going to pass away, going to be rolled up like a scroll, and all the graveyards, and all the great corporations, and all of the wealth, and all of the gold shall perish. So honestly, I have no other place to go, no other place. Beloved, you can see the tremendous theme here, can't you? The judgment seat of Christ. O husband, wife, your mates are not to affect your faith, otherwise your faith is not faith. Mother, father, your children are not to affect your faith, otherwise your faith is not faith. You do not understand Jesus if you take that attitude of life. You are trusting in Christ personally, and as the very dynamic of his great Spirit thrusts into your body and thrives out through your body, which is now the possession of God, you can pray and pray and pray and testify. to the saving grace of our Savior, so that your loved ones will be saved. But I venture that there's so little tears shed, even though you know that God has a division between those lost and those saved, and those trusting in Jesus and those not trusting in Jesus, that even though you know that, somehow the devil deludes our mind by thinking that, as I said before, so-and-so has lived such a nice life, I think probably one of the greatest, greatest problems people have with this is that somehow they have that judgment in their hearts that the lost are all going to be treated exactly the same. I want to say that's not true. According to the Word of God, there are variations in God's judgment upon the lost, and I believe that a Hitler will have a greater and a more terrible judgment, and preachers who preach not the gospel of Christ than those who never heard the Word of God. How do I know? Because I just read it, that's all. Luke 10, Matthew 25 tells you that certain cities shall suffer worse than Sodom's judgments because they had more privilege and didn't come. So there are variations of rewards in heaven, the judgment seat, and there are variations of punishment and departure from God. And in this vast universe, it doesn't bother me in the least as to how God's going to judge people. I leave everybody in His hands. Anybody asks me about the pagans, anybody asks me about the cannibals, anybody asks me about that, I say, the Lord of all the earth can do no wrong. All I know is He's witnessed to my heart, told me how I should be redeemed. It's my responsibility, since I heard the gospel, that I might be saved. And by every power of my being to see that all the world hears about it, that's what God has called me to do. And my mind happens to be a little too small to figure out how God's going to judge every single soul upon this earth. That's His realm and His sphere. Judge not that ye be not judged. And so, beloved, where do you stand this morning? Do you stand on the side of the cross? Do you? Do you? Are you on Christ's side? Do you really know Him? What is the judgment upon your faith? Do you believe because others believe? And is your faith affected by some Christian who falls? Then it's not faith. In my 20 years, I've seen some mighty big men of God fall by the wayside. I have felt burdened, I have had tears in my heart over their fall, but it has just made my faith in Jesus Christ stronger than ever before, and seeking the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the difference. You never look that way at people. You look at Jesus. Is he yours this morning? Is he? Let us pray. Now, Father, we thank thee for thy blessed word. Lord, as we think of the position we're standing in this morning, there's no other age has ever stood on the very brink of the coming of the Lord. We look at the world scene, it seems we're blinded sometimes by Satan himself. We see where men believe they have reached the point where they could destroy the whole world. And then we remember the words of Peter when he says, God hath reserved the earth to be destroyed by himself, by fire. Not hard for us to understand now, Not now that we've understood a little bit about nuclear physics. It's not hard for us to understand now we're in an age where we really have no excuse, where scientists are afraid to work on certain areas, certain areas of destruction that they fear may set off a chain reaction and destroy the world. But we remember God that you said you reserved it for yourself, so we're not worrying about that. We remember it tells us in Revelation, we're going to read this later, that you destroyed the earth by fire. But Father, we're living right now in the age of grace, and it may be that someone here this morning really hasn't made a decision for Christ. Oh, Father, how I pray this morning. for each one. Let not our faith be determined by the faith of our mates or our children. Oh, our hearts can be broken, but Lord, let not that faith be touched. May it become stronger and stronger as we see all the forces of Satan working against us, affecting our children, affecting us as adults, causing us to be deluded into the world system and into fleshly sins and worldly enticements. Paul warns us always of this. So, Father, we would pray this morning that if anyone has come in that is outside of Christ, that they might say yes to the Lord at this time. While every head is bowed and nobody looking around, just as I close, it may be that someone would like to say, Pastor, pray for me. Pray for me. I need Christ as my Savior. I want Him in my heart. I've never really made a decision, and here's my hand. I'll just raise it up, no one looking around. Say, Pastor, pray for me. Anywhere? Just put your hand up. Say, Pastor, pray for me. Yes. Yes, I saw that hand. Anyone else? Just put your hand up. Say, Pastor, pray for me. Put it up high to join us. Yes, I see your hand. Lord bless you. Anyone else? Just put your hand up high. Say, Pastor, pray for me. I wouldn't ask you to come down forward, just put it up where you are. Say, Pastor, I never made a real decision for Christ. I never said so, and here is my hand. I really believe this morning. I want him in my heart. Here's my hand. Pray for me. Anywhere else? Anywhere at all? Quickly, just put your hand up. Pray for me, young person, mother, dad, grandmother, grandfather, doesn't matter. Here's your place to make your decisions for Jesus Christ. Quickly, and then I close. Anywhere else, just a moment, and then I'll close. Quickly. Now, our gracious Father, we do thank thee for these that have indicated faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. Lord, we pray thy blessing upon them. We ask thee, Lord, that as the many others who've come into this church have indicated that as they leave at the door, that they've really received Christ into their hearts, that today as these leave, they will come to the door and just say, I came this morning to Christ." It may be that there are some who didn't raise their hand in the Lord, possibly out of some timidity, but even they, as they leave, if they've received Jesus into their hearts, may they come to the door this morning and indicate that their faith in him is real. In Christ's name we pray, amen.