I'm turning now in the Word of God to the Gospel of Mark Chapter 9 and reading verse 42. Mark Chapter 9 and reading verse 42. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. And my subject for this evening's message is the seriousness of sin. This is a very solemn passage. Christ speaks about the reality of hell more than anyone else in the scriptures. And we see here the severity of God's judgment. We also see his grace, but we see the danger of sin in this passage as well. For those who are without Christ, eternal dangers, but also God's people need to be vigilant as well, although we cannot lose our salvation, we can lose instrumentality, we can lose the joy of the Lord, we can have God's, God's spirit can be withdrawn. Solemn words concerning sin and the fact that it will take many souls into that place of unquenchable fire. Well, verse 42, we begin at this very verse. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. We have an insight here concerning how God especially reserves his greatest judgment to those who entice these little ones. Who are these little ones? Well, children, yes. Also, a lot of the commentators tell us that it's referring to believers as well. Those humble believers who have childlike faith, believers in Christ, little ones, God's little flock. But I believe it can apply equally. Christ himself brings a child to himself. Children being led astray by this evil world, so I believe it's applicable to both. Little children, children as well as believers. So God especially is provoked to anger when those people or those institutions or the things of this world, how these things entice. Little ones, children, believers and souls generally away from Christ, away from the call of the gospel and God's gracious invitation of mercy. This is also recorded, as I'm sure you know, this passage in Matthew's gospel. And we read in Matthew's gospel, an equivalent verse, some more details in this passage. I read verse seven of Matthew chapter 18, where Christ says, woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. So it's inevitable, Christ tells us in Matthew's gospel. Of course it is. We live in a sin-sick, fallen world, and this is Satan's playground. And Satan will use and abuse this world and the things of this world and lead many away. It's inevitable. And Satan will use people in positions of great influence. in the different sectors of society in this world to entice souls away from Christ. This is the great campaign that we read of in Ephesians chapter six, spiritual wickedness in high places, but woe to those who are the instigators of these things. Those who have such power and influence to reach spiritual and moral havoc on countless souls. Of course, it's not just speaking about these people who have great influence over others and lead many astray. It can refer to anyone who leads people away from Christ by their bad example. But we think of those who have great influence in this world. We think of the rock stars and the pop stars and some of the celebrities and the sports stars and so on. We think of those who glamorize debauchery and make it seem as though this is what we should be doing. And the legislation or the legalizing of sin, these types of things. Christ teaches that it would be better for these people if they were to die the most horrific death imaginable than for them to be guilty of this. Guilty of enticing souls away from Christ, enticing believers, enticing, luring away children, bombarding them with filth, bombarding them with the great campaign of atheism and false religion and sinful things which desensitize people and hardens people's hearts. Those who are influential in these things, those who promote these things, woe to them, how terrible it will be for them on that day. It would be better for them if they were thrown into the depths of the sea with a millstone hanged about their neck. The millstone that Christ is speaking about is, it's a very large millstone. It had a hole in the middle, pulled by a donkey. And it was, imagine someone's neck being caught in this vast, huge, heavy millstone, thrown into the midst of the sea. What a way to die. It would be better for them, if that was to happen to them, than what they're guilty of. Because on the day of judgment, Christ, they will suffer most severely. There are two points to consider here when we look at this verse. Firstly, God is not indifferent. It may seem to be from our point of view, it seems as though these people are getting away with murder. We see the great destruction and the poison and the evil, the spiritual filth, and the immoral things that we see happening. And what we learn here, not just here, but in the scriptures generally, what Christ says we learn in this is that God is not indifferent to this. Those who orchestrate these things, those who are guilty of these things, every act, every plan, every plot, Every script written for these reality TV shows and all these things, all these things are being noted in God's book. They're being noted by God. We're told elsewhere that even every idle word is being monitored by almighty God. And those who are guilty of enticing others away from the Lord Jesus Christ, on the day of judgment, we read, for example, in the book of Revelation, that they will receive God's wrath unmixed. his undiluted wrath and anger against such wickedness. They themselves living a life away from God, spurning him, hating him and influencing others in the same. And God particularly finds this obnoxious and it provokes him to anger when others are being enticed by my example or my promotion of a life lived without God. And so that's the first point we observe here in this verse. But another point is this, we see God's jealous care for his children in this verse. He protects, we have an invisible hand, dear brothers and sisters, protecting us along life's journey, every step of the way. Sometimes it may seem as though As a believer, Lord, I feel as though I've let you down. I feel as though I'm out of control, but it's not the case. Because if it was the case, I wouldn't feel the way I feel. I wouldn't feel dreadful. I wouldn't feel far away. You can't feel far away from God if you've never been near to God. Now I'm his. but I should strive to draw near to God. But I'm jealously cared for on this pilgrim journey, and I cannot lose my salvation. But even when attempts are made to allure believers away from Christ, and believers sadly can stumble and slip, But even when Satan, and he does this constantly, tempts believers to go back into the world, it does provoke God's anger. This is what we learn in this passage. He entices souls away from God generally, and little children, and children, it's so sad, but he entices believers to go back into the world as well. And Christ takes personal offense at this. He who touches you touches the apple of my eye. Even though they cannot steal one of his sheep away, we cannot lose our salvation. Satan, no matter how hard he tries, no matter how sophisticated his temptations are, he cannot take one of us away from Christ, but Christ takes offense nevertheless. God takes offense. And we should find this of great comfort, dear friends, that God loves us so, loves us with a jealous love. When I think about it, stop and think about it, that God loves me with such intense care, protecting me throughout life's journey, that he would be willing to defend and protect such a one as I. So though the world may be so powerful in its seduction, more than ever before in our age, the seduction, the tentacles of this world, its hypnotic power over countless souls. But yet, if I'm truly the Lord's, although there may be that struggle and battle against sin in the world, I cannot be lured away. It cannot happen, because greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world. My Savior is with me, and He will protect me. Again, there may be struggles here and there, but I will not be led astray. The Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be my shepherd lifelong. But now we turn to this theme where Christ speaks about how our own lusts. So there is the enticement by Satan through those who Influence people away from Christ, but now we learn here in verse from verse 33 onward 43 onwards of how our own appetites and sinful tendencies can ensnare us versus 43 and 44 I'll just read these two verses to start with and if thy hand offend thee cut it off It is better for thee to enter into life maimed or crippled than having two hands to go into hell into the fire that shall never be quenched, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. So there will be many who will be ensnared and stolen away by their own sin and by Satan. My own sin will, well, will have a stranglehold on me and I will be dominated and I'll be in, Enslaved by my sins I will lifelong be in the employment of sin as we read of in Romans chapter 6 The wages of sin is death and there will be countless souls who will be lifelong in the employment of sin But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Those who God will say will be rescued. I will no longer be an employee of sin. I I will now live for my savior. I will still sin, but I will be at war with sin and I will fight against my sins. But there will be so many, many, many people rebellious to the very end who will be cast into the lake of fire. But the gospel can change the state of people who are on that trajectory on the way to hell. God can intervene. Not only has God come, not only has the Lord Jesus Christ come to save souls from the condemnation of sin, but according to this passage and others, he has also come to save us from its slavery in this life, so that I'm no longer in sin's employment. And those two things are linked. They cannot be separated. He has come to save me from both. So the warning is this, for us believers, it's not the norm for those who love the Lord, for those who are his children, it's not the norm for us to be enslaved by sins. Yes, as a believer, I may fail my Lord, I may let him down, but to be in a state of perpetual slavery and guilty constantly of sinning and grieving the Lord. It's not normal. It's not healthy. Those who have been rescued from the slavery or those rather those who haven't been rescued from the slavery of sin have not been rescued from the condemnation of sin either. So this is a duty, this is a exhortation for those who are the Lords, those who profess to be God's people, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, to strive to obey our Lord. We're not saved by our works, but God works in us by His Holy Spirit. Dear friend, dear brother or sister, see sin as your archenemy. If I'm truly converted, yes, I will never be taken away. I will not be taken away from Christ, but I can sadly fall into a backslidden state, not indefinitely, but I can suffer greatly in this life because of my foolishness, because I'm no longer depending on my savior. I've been hypnotized by this world. I've been drawn aside by this world, and God will chastise in his own way. Tim, it comes with, I may not suffer the consequences of hell, but I will suffer God's chastisement, and I may suffer God's severe chastisement in this life. as a result of my period of backsliding. Again, if I'm truly the Lord's, it will not be indefinite, because we read in the scriptures that we are kept by the power of God, and God does discipline those whom he loves. He will discipline. He will correct. But what we learn from these verses, let me just read these two verses again. If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. What we learn here, dear friends, in these verses is take temptations. The temptations that I'm especially vulnerable to, no believer is the same. We all have our different weaknesses. I know what sins tempt me, and I must take drastic measures. That's what Christ is saying. Of course, he's speaking metaphorically. Of course, he's not speaking literally. He's speaking metaphorically. But the application is clear. Take drastic measures concerning sin. It is deadly. It is taking Many people to hell. Many souls will end up in hell because of their sins. Therefore, make every effort to avoid the temptations that you are prone to. Make every effort to avoid them. Avoid them like the plague, because there are many things in this fallen world Because of Satan and because of his, well, his many devices, there are many things in this sin-sick and fallen world which are designed to inflame sinful tendencies. And therefore, I should be so careful as a believer. For example, and you do hear Christians saying this from time to time, you telling us that, well, there's no wrong going to a pub, I'm just going to have one drink, or I'm not even going to drink. It's not my intention to go to that place and to get drunk or to get tipsy. Well, even so, dear friends, it's a very foolish thing to do, to go to a place where there is drunkenness, where there is worldliness, and also where there is a lot of flirting. I'm going to go to this place, and do I think that God will protect me? Do you think he will protect me from falling into great sin when he troubles my conscience that I shouldn't be there? Remember Proverbs 7, and the prostitute, don't go by the way of her house. Don't go there. Avoid temptations. Avoid them like the plague, those sins which you are vulnerable to, avoid them if you can. Fight against these, fight against these sins. And we must also be careful in our age where these things can come into our homes, through TV perhaps or through our screens, whether it be phone or other devices. Many things can, Satan can be crafty and bring in things in this way. I must be so careful and I must, well if I find that I cannot manage the, I cannot manage or I find myself going to For example, if I have a Twitter account or other social, and I find myself scrolling, and I see things that I shouldn't see, then I should probably close down that, or I should close down that account. Take drastic actions. Take drastic measures against sin, because it pollutes the soul. Peter tells us this in his first letter. Abstain from fleshly lusts, which campaign, which war against the spiritual life, which war against the soul. If I'm truly the Lord and I love the Lord, I cannot lose my salvation, but I can lose my sense of peace, my sense of joy, my being used of the Lord. All these things can crumble and fall. If I don't take this exhortation seriously, if I don't fear the consequences of sin, if I don't pray to the Lord to help me, if I'm not vigilant, if I'm not engaged in the spiritual warfare, don't even dip your feet into the water, as it were. Satan can whisper in our ears as believers, little compromises won't do any harm. This sin, it's not too bad. It's not extreme. This is very subtle. This is what Satan will try to do. But dear friends, the reality is this. That great falls, a great fall into a serious sin, it never happens in a vacuum. It's very rare that a great sin will just come upon me all of a sudden. All of a sudden I fall into adultery. All of a sudden this great sin happens. No, it normally doesn't happen that way. It's the little compromises along the way. It's the little sins that build up. the little compromises, how careful we should be. And we must endeavor, therefore, to have a close walk with our Savior day by day, keeping short accounts with Him. When I do slip, when I do fall, immediately I turn to the Lord in prayer. Lord, I'm sorry. Oh, Lord, help me. Give me grace, Lord. I turn to Him in prayer. I keep short accounts with Him. And I trust in him and I look to him So this is what we learn in this passage a warning for believers and an encouragement to believers To draw near to our god. He is our ever present aid in trial. Yes, but also in temptation And we continue to read from verse 45 if thy foot offend thee cut it off It is better for thee to enter halt lame, crippled into life, then having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched. Where there were, dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. So we've looked at temptation, but now I want to look at the subject of hell, dear friends, because Christ teaches. He's speaking on the subject of hell, and it's something that cannot be ignored when we come to a passage like this. The word hell in the Greek is Gehenna, which is derived from a Hebrew word, which means a place of or a state of misery. It refers to the Valley of Hinnom. And this was an area located in Jerusalem or just south of Jerusalem, very close to the city. It is the place where in the Old Testament, where King Ahaz, and King Manasseh burnt their children, roasted their children in fire, sacrificing them to the God of Molech. This is the place. And when godly Josiah came to the throne, he condemned that place and pronounced it unclean. And Jeremiah pronounced judgment against the place as well. It became the place, the Valley of Hinnom, it became the place where they would burn the rubbish. The rubbish was burned there. So it was a place of, it was a cursed place. And so we're not surprised that it's used in the New Testament as a reference to hell. Christ uses this as a reference to hell, a place. Perpetual and eternal judgment where the cursed of God will remain forever unquenchable fire in This life the fire eventually dies out in the next life This is a different kind of fire. It never goes out. The fire will continue forever and ever The worm the reference to the worm here. It's mentioned a couple of times but verse 46 where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. The worm is probably a reference to conscience. Many think this is the case, and I happen to agree. In hell, I will not only be tormented by the flame, but I will also be tormented by my conscience. Maybe there will be flashbacks in the previous life where there were opportunities to receive Christ. There will be flashbacks where my conscience was momentarily troubled and I just brushed it aside. In hell, I will be plagued with my conscience. It will be like a worm eating away at me forever and ever. But it's a place not only where those who are cursed of God, who reject God, not only will they be tormented because of their rebellion against him, but they will also be tormented and punished because of their rejection of his grace. Punished for the violation of his laws, breaking his commandments, living a life of sin, but also when the invitation to receive his grace was spurned and cast aside, I will be judged for that as well. Elsewhere, Christ calls hell outer darkness, a place where there is no light. There will be such pain, gnashing of teeth in agony and pain. Some people have some ridiculous ideas about hell. Sometimes you listen, I remember years ago, this particular rock group spoke of hell as being a place where people will party. How ridiculous. A place where, and other foolish ideas of hell is where Satan will be there reigning over those who are suffering and he will be the one dictating and he will be the one who will be inflicting pain and torment upon. No, he will be there as well. He will be suffering and in torment as well with his demons. Everyone in hell, including Satan, will be under the fierce judgment of almighty God. Satan won't be ruling in hell. he will be miserable and punished like everyone else. Revelation chapter 18 goes into great detail concerning what hell will be like. Let me just give you some descriptions according to Revelation chapter 18. Things that you will never see in hell, things that you will never experience in hell. In hell, There will be no such thing as friendship and love. It will not exist in hell. No more friendship, no more love. It will not exist. There will be no creativity in hell. There will be no craftsmanship in hell, no vocation in hell, no gifts, no talents in hell. There'll be no possessions in hell. There'll be nothing beautiful, no scenery, no sunset, nothing. None of these things, all of these things will be gone at this present time in this life. Although it is a world marred by sin, it is nevertheless still a breathtakingly beautiful world. It is being created by God. It flows from the goodness and benevolence of God. And people just take it for granted. The beautiful soaring mountains, the gorgeous sunset, all these things that people take for granted, these come from God. We learn in scripture that everything, every single atom is being upheld by Christ's power, by the word of his power. And in hell, God will remove his blessed grace and his gifts that he gives to the human. He will remove them entirely. None of these things will be there. The only presence of God that people will feel in hell is his anger and his wrath. Friends, it is a terrifying thing. It is a fearful thing. to fall into the hands of the living God, to spurn His grace, to count the shedding of the blood of the Son of God as something cheap and something irrelevant. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Well, this is a solemn subject, but it's a reality. It's a reality that we should warn the lost about. God when God gives us opportunities and we must be it's very difficult with some people we know especially it's it's easier to speak to these things about people who we don't know but may the Lord give us opportunities to warn people whether it be family or friends it's difficult it's especially difficult with friends and family But may the Lord help us to warn those who are outside of Christ of this most dreadful, this most dreadful place. And it's something we cannot forget about, the reality of that place of unquenchable fire. Because if we forget about it, and we can easily forget about it if we're not careful, but if we do forget about it, we can lose our sympathy for souls. We can forget the plight of those near to us and those whom we love. and our prayers will not be as fervent as they should. So we do need to bring this topic up from time to time. It's important. But now we come down to verses 49 and 50 of our chapter, the last two verses. Verses 49 and 50. For everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost its saltiness, wherewith shall ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. There are different, concerning verse 49, there are differing views on this verse. Some commentators think that it's still speaking about hell. I definitely disagree with that view. There are other views that are interpreted in a different way. And I believe that the last verse gives us the correct interpretation. If you read verse 50, it gives us a hint, I believe. Salt is good, but if the salt have lost its saltiness, wherewith shall you season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another. So salt, as we all know, is a preservative. It combats deterioration. It gives fleck. It gives flavor elsewhere. We're told salt is often used as an illustration of grace season your conversation with grace But because the flesh is weak We can lose the influence of grace especially if i'm constantly giving if i'm constantly giving into the flesh I can lose that influence of grace. So God uses in his sovereign will and wisdom, he uses the fiery trials of life to purge me of these sinful tendencies. And this I believe is what for verse 49 is referring to. Everyone shall be sold. Every one of you, all my people, every one of you shall be salted with fire. It's needful. It's necessary. to purge away these sinful tendencies, every one of my people will be tried. Reminds me of 1 Peter 1, verse 7, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried in the fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So it's God's will for us, his people, to be proved, to be tried, and very often so that we don't lose our saltiness. That is, we don't lose the influence of grace working in our hearts. God would have me go through trial and tribulation and fire to keep me close to himself. That's the purpose of Almighty God. His way is our purpose. What if that wasn't the case? How quickly we would fall away. But the wisdom of God, that He even sanctifies the difficulties and the troubles and our tears for our eternal blessing and even the fruitfulness in this life. And the promise is, dear brother and sister, the promise in any situation, no matter how difficult it is, the promise is this, my grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient. There's no need to fall to pieces. There's no need to fear the worst. My grace is sufficient. I have ordained this. I have planned it. You have nothing to fear. Or verse 50, briefly now as we come to conclusion. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, wherewith shall ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. While Christ was previously gently Telling his disciples don't argue among yourselves who will be the greatest and he brings a child a little child and he teaches them about he who shall be great in my kingdom shall be lost and serve and have a Have a demeanor and and and a dependence as a little child. So he reminds them don't be contentious Don't dispute and argue among each other because you are my representatives And I am the prince of peace Have peace among yourselves by looking to me, the source of peace. In this world you shall have tribulation, but in me you can derive this peace. And then you will be those who will be used of me mightily to deliver many from that dreadful place of punishment. You'll be used of me. Through my grace, I will deliver many through you from from the consequences of sin, from the condemnation of sin. Well, may the Lord help us to lay these truths to heart. Amen.