one more time from Isaiah 43 verses 8 to 13. So as we take up again this passage, we'll be considering it afresh. We've considered how the Lord has called us to be his witnesses. We have considered how that begins with knowing the Lord ourselves. So let's pay close attention to God's word. Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears, All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, it is true. You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he Before me no God was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed when there was no strange God among you. And you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am God. Henceforth I am he. There is none who can deliver from my hand. I work, and who can turn it back? This is God's word. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, as we come before you this morning to listen to your word, we pray that you would be with us by your spirit. Lord, we come before you this morning in weakness. We come before you this morning as sinners, as those who have suffered many things and our consciences are sometimes, even now, after confession and hearing a word of forgiveness, burdened. But we look to you, Lord, as the God of our salvation, and we pray that you would speak, that you would strengthen us for the life that you've given us on this earth. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, you're probably all wondering why I kept naming my sermons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Parts 1 and 2 and now Part 3. And this morning we are going to talk about Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1931, the Watchtower Society chose the name Jehovah's Witnesses, and they chose it based on this passage, Isaiah 43, verse 10. You are my witnesses, declares Jehovah. Maybe you wonder where the name Jehovah comes from. Jehovah is, boy, it's kind of a convoluted answer, but the name of the Lord that he, revealed to his people, and that he revealed to Moses, the Lord, the God who is, the great I am, in Hebrew is four letters. Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, which we can transliterate into our letters Y-H-W-H. And when you add vowels to it and put it into German first, and then bring it from German into English, you end up with Jehovah. So that's where that comes from, and some old translations of the Bible use that as the name of God, and this is the name of the Lord. And in our Bibles, in the English Standard Version where in the Old Testament you have the name of the Lord, and it's capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That is representing this name of God that he gave to his, that he revealed to his people in the Old Testament. And this is, of all the names of God, especially in the Old Testament, of all the names of God, this is kind of the primary and central one. And we'll talk a little bit more about this name of God a little bit later. in the sermon, but this name, Jehovah, is the name that Jehovah's Witnesses took for themselves based on this verse, that they would be witnesses of the Lord. If you don't know much about Jehovah's Witnesses besides the fact that they sometimes come knock on your door and try to give you pamphlets and that sort of thing, they were founded by a guy named Charles Russell back in the 1870s, and Charles Russell had been really influenced by Adventism. Adventism was kind of, that was a big thing around these parts. People were really kind of taken up with the idea that Christ's return was imminent, that Jesus was gonna be coming back at any time. And so there was a lot of revivalism was focused on preparing people to be ready for Christ's return at any time. And that's why it's called Adventism. pointing to the coming of Christ. Charles Russell began publishing what was called the Watchtower, and you can still get these from the Jehovah's Witnesses today. They're also known for their own translation of the Bible, which is called the New World Translation, and this was done in the middle of the 20th century They did actually translate it from Greek and Hebrew as far as I can tell, but it is not a good translation. They deliberately mistranslate a number of key passages in order to support their own false teaching. And the main things about their teaching that we could point out where they diverge, where they depart from the true faith of the Christian church is first of all that they reject The Trinity, they are, in that sense, Unitarians. And along with that, I think we can, one thing that you'll find if you spend a lot of time speaking with Jehovah's Witnesses, I've seen them described as being rationalist, that they essentially deny any mystery. They deny any mystery about God. If something can't be plainly understood about God, then it must not be true. And that's one reason why they reject the Trinity, because the Trinity is ultimately a mystery to us. It's not something that we can fully comprehend. It's something that we can arrive at some understanding of it, but we can never get to the bottom of it. As well, and maybe this is a little less familiar to some of you, they also deny the doctrine of hell. They teach that those who are not saved will simply be annihilated. They will simply cease to exist. And very importantly as well, they have a teaching about Jesus Christ which denies that he is God. So they hold to what Christians today would call Arianism. This is an ancient heresy that that the early church dealt with many centuries ago. And the nub of this heresy is that Jesus is not God. He is simply the first and the greatest of all of God's creations. He is the first and the greatest of all creatures. By the way, I'll just say that this is one reason why it's important for us to learn the history of the church. it's important for us to learn what Christians have had to deal with over the centuries. I had a professor in seminary who used to like to say that not only is the canon of scripture closed, there will be no new scriptures until Christ return, but also he would say the canon of heresy is also closed. There will be no new heresies. They have all been tried. They are all out there. And so learning about the history of God's people and the challenges that the church has faced and the false teachings the church has had to deal with is really important for us. Well, if you think about the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Trinity, they deny the doctrine of hell, and they deny that Jesus is God, then one of the conclusions you might come to, and you might also come to this conclusion just through your conversations with them or by observing them, is that what they do believe in is they do believe in a salvation that comes through human effort, through works. This is also kind of expressed in one of their teachings that I'm sure a lot of you know about, which is their belief that basically there are two kinds of saved people. There are normal, saved people, and then there are the 144,000. And if you're a really, really good Jehovah's Witness, then you can become one of the 144,000, except that the spots are already filled, so actually you can't. Well, I think a question that we need to deal with before we can kind of get into some of this nitty-gritty about the Trinity and about the deity of Christ. When I say deity, that means that Jesus is God. Before we get into that, we need to deal with another question, which is a question that really presses upon us today. It's a question that I think many of us struggle with and wrestle with, and not only when it comes to other religions and to cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses, but also when it comes to other Christians with whom we do share the same faith. And that question is, does theology really matter? Is it really important? Is it something that we should care about? When I say care about, I mean really care about it. Care about it enough that we are willing to disagree with people, that we are willing to draw lines, that we are willing to separate from other people over theology. When I was a kid, there was a bumper sticker I used to see around my hometown. I saw a lot of bumper stickers around my hometown because there were a lot of bumper stickers in my hometown. But one of them that always stuck out to me said, my karma ran over your dogma. My karma ran over your dogma. This kind of expresses this idea that being nice is more important than knowing the truth. Being nice is more important than knowing the truth. Disagreements are unpleasant. It is unpleasant to have a conversation with someone about religion and find that you are at odds with them, that you have a fundamental disagreement with them. Shouldn't religion be about love and acceptance? Turning the other cheek, giving a cup of cold water to the least of these, and if we're running around insisting on our doctrine, Is that Christ-like? Is that loving? I think even just the word doctrine can make our back go up a little bit, and maybe if, well, I say that, we're Reformed Presbyterians, so maybe on the whole, most of us like the word doctrine, but we certainly know plenty of people and know plenty of Christians for whom doctrine makes, the idea of doctrine makes us uncomfortable, or makes them uncomfortable. I'll just say, too, what does the word doctrine mean? The word doctrine simply means teaching. Teaching. And teaching does matter. But nevertheless, we struggle with this, right? We struggle to know whether these things matter. We struggle to tell why these doctrines in particular, the doctrines of the Trinity, the doctrine of hell, and the doctrine of the incarnation of God the Son as a man, why these are good, why these are important, and why these are vital, not just for being a Christian, but for the good news of Jesus Christ. What difference does it make? Right? We may ask ourselves that, and you may have other people ask you that. What difference does it make? As long as someone believes in Jesus, as long as someone believes in God, as long as someone believes that Jesus died for them in some sense, what difference does it make if they believe in the Trinity or don't believe in the Trinity? What difference does it make if they believe in hell or not? What difference does it make if they believe that Jesus is God or if they believe that Jesus is the greatest creation, the greatest creature of all, so great, in fact, that we could call him a God, which is what the Jehovah's Witnesses call him? Well, doctrine matters. because, first of all, it's inescapable. Doctrine is inescapable. The idea that loving other people and being kind to them and speaking the truth are somehow opposed to each other is itself a teaching. That is itself a doctrine. More than that, It is a teaching which, if you accept it, if you accept that loving other people and speaking the truth to other people and seeking after the truth for yourself are somehow opposed to each other, if you accept that, that will actually lead you to dislike and to look down on and judge doctrinal people. So that's one reason why theology matters. It's because on a certain level, it's inescapable. Another reason why theology matters is because God is real. Theology is simply the study of God, getting to know God. Now, we know from the Bible that God is mysterious. Theologians say that God is incomprehensible. Now, what does that mean, incomprehensible? If you're studying calculus and you're having a hard time with it, you might say, this is incomprehensible. I don't understand any of it, right? That's not what we mean when we say that God is incomprehensible. To say that God is incomprehensible means that you cannot fully know God. You cannot get to the bottom of who God is. God is immense. God is eternal. God cannot be fully known by little you or by little me. And at the same time, God reveals himself. One passage in the Bible where we can see the incomprehensibility of God and also the revelation of God is in Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 30, 34 actually backing up a little bit in Exodus 33. So, um, this is right after the golden calf, right? And Moses is speaking with God and he asks to see God's glory. Moses said, please show me your glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you and we'll proclaim before you my name, the Lord. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But, he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live. And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock. And while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand. and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." There is something about the full knowledge of God to see God face to face that man simply cannot do. It is something we are not capable of. And yet at the same time, the Lord does reveal his glory to Moses, and he reveals his glory to us as he put Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered his face until he passed by. And when he passed by, he declared to Moses who he was. The Lord proclaimed and said, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty The Lord reveals himself to us even as we are incapable of getting to the bottom of who he is. Now we don't tell people that whether you drink and drive doesn't matter. We don't tell people that whether you use a budget doesn't matter. We don't tell people that whether you tie your shoes doesn't matter and that's because Alcohol and cars and shoes and money are all parts of our life. They are all real. And yet these things are all passing away. These things are all creatures. As a philosopher would say, these things are contingent. They depend upon God for their existence. God is most real. God is eternal. God exists. in himself. That is why he is called Yahweh, the Lord, Jehovah. And because God is more real than all these, knowing about God, knowing the truth about God matters. Well, there's another reason. I thought about making this two sermons again, but I thought we should get through this. There's another reason why theology matters, and that's because God is personal. This is where we begin to get into the doctrine of the Trinity just a little bit. God is personal, and so theology matters. God made man in his image, and so man also is personal. Now, let me ask you a question. How do you feel when someone calls you by the wrong name? How does that make you feel? You've introduced yourself to someone, you've talked for a few minutes, and then they call you by the wrong name. How does that make you feel? Maybe you're a patient person and you can kind of put up with it, but none of us like being called by the wrong name. Theology is basically about learning and using the right names for God. Now someone might think that they are honoring God by how they describe him, but if it isn't true of God, then they are dishonoring him. I appreciated the passage that Mr. McGrath read this morning from Ecclesiastes, to offer the sacrifice of fools is to do evil. to worship God wrongly, to call him by the wrong name, it would be better for us to be silent instead. Now, disagreeing about God, see, because God is personal, disagreeing about God is not like disagreeing with people about some, you know, real but very distant thing, right? Like you might, I don't know when, but you might find yourself in a disagreement with someone about, you know, New Zealand's tax code, right? It's a real thing, it's just very far away and it has no effect on your life, as far as I know. You might find yourself in a disagreement with someone about How many moons are around Jupiter? It's far away. I'm not sure how that affects my life or yours, even though it's real. But you see, God is personal, and we find ourselves in a relationship with him. The way that we speak about God matters. Let me give you maybe a more relatable and perhaps more uncomfortable example. Let's say that I stood up here in this pulpit and I told everyone here and I went on to put on Facebook that I think Michael DeLorme is just a wonderful man. He's a great guy. He's one of my best friends, and in fact, he is one of the most eligible bachelors in all of Oswego County. What a compliment, right? Nevertheless, I think I would offend him if I said that. And he's not the only person I would offend either, right? And it won't help if I double down and say, no, no, no, really. He's the most eligible bachelor in all of New York, right? To persist in untruth about God is a personal wrong. Even if people think that what they are saying is honoring to God, to tell a lie about God is a personal wrong against Him. And to persist in that truth is a personal affront to God. And in the same way that if I were to stand here and say ridiculous, false things about my friend, Michael, Some of you might say, now hold on a second, that's not true. You shouldn't talk about him that way. Yeah, it sounds nice, but you should not stand up in public and say things that are false. It's because you also have a relationship with him. It's because you also care about his good name. How much more with God? So theology also matters because God He's a covenantal God. He's entered into covenant with us. Man always lives in covenant with God, either in the covenant of works, in which case man is under condemnation, or in the covenant of grace in Jesus Christ. All people have a relationship with the Lord. It's one thing for a total stranger to go around spreading misinformation about you or about your friend. But what if it is a person who is in a covenanted relationship with that person, right? What if it is another member of your church that tells a lie about you or about a person that you care about in this church? What if it is your pastor, right? That covenanted relationship makes the untruth all the more serious. Theology matters because we have a relationship with God. And when we find ourselves in such a radical disagreement with others about God, as we do with the Jehovah's Witnesses, we need to remember that these differences matter. So who is the Lord? Who is Jehovah? The first thing that we can say about him is what we learn from his name. The Lord is the God who is. The God who exists in and of himself. He was not created. He was not made by anyone or anything else. He exists in Himself, and He exists alone as such a God. He alone is God. Before me there were no gods, nor shall there be any after me. In the New World Translation of John 1, verse 1, you will read how the Jehovah's Witnesses mistranslate this verse to say, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God, with a little g, and the Word was a God. But here in Isaiah 43, we read the Lord saying, before me no God was formed, nor shall there be any after more. Henceforth also I am he. God suffers no creature to be called God along with him. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. And so this leads us directly to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. We can read in 1 Corinthians 8, how this uniqueness of God, His holiness, as the one true and living God, leads us to the doctrine of the Trinity. In 1 Corinthians 8, verses 5 and 6, Paul says, for although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we exist. And so the church has always and will always confess this God, who is unity and trinity, and trinity and unity, as one of the old creeds says. The trinity we find clearly revealed in the New Testament, and yet it is present although cloaked and concealed in the Old Testament. The New Testament light shows us the Trinity. One of the first verses that the early church turned to to teach about the Trinity is the Great Commission. When Jesus said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in that commission that the Lord gave to his church, he does a couple things. He shows us a couple things. First of all, he shows us that baptism is performed in the one name of the Triune God. It is not in three names that we are baptized. It is in the one name, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And by calling this the one name of God, we are taught that these three are the same God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Another thing that was very important for the early churches, they wrestled through these things in the Great Commission, is that this theology is also baked into how we worship. It is impossible for us to receive baptism, to administer baptism, to watch it being performed without entering into the triune faith, the faith in the Trinity. As well, every Sunday morning we end our worship services with a blessing, a benediction that is pronounced in the name of this same triune God, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." And the Church lives in relationship with the Trinity. Our entire life as Christians, as members of the Church, is lived in relationship with these three persons of the Trinity. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul is speaking about the gifts that God has given to the church. And you can hear what I remember one commentator calls this artless Trinitarianism. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 4, Paul writes, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. Our life together as Christians is lived in communion, in relationship with this triune God. And to deny people a relationship by denying the truth of the Trinity is to deny people a relationship with the true God. John 1, 1 we read truly that the Word of God is God. through whom all things were made. And that this glory that the Word had, it had in the beginning as glory of the only begotten Son from the Father. And Jesus says in John 8, 28, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, you will know that I am He. I am He. And for a Jew living at that time to hear Jesus speak those words, the meaning of it, would be plain that Jesus himself was saying, I am Yahweh. I am the God that is. And that is why later when he told the Pharisees, before Abraham was, I am, that they grew incredibly angry and were ready to stone him because they understood exactly what Jesus meant, that he was claiming to be God. In John 17, verses four and five, as Jesus prays, we see that he shared in the same glory of the Father before all worlds. And so, in the light of the New Testament, we can come to Isaiah 43, and we can see the Trinity also here in these verses. Where are some places that we can see the Trinity in these verses. First of all, the Lord speaks to us in his word, and he says, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. That you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. There is a knowledge and a faith and a belief and an understanding that we receive from this triune God. There is a knowledge of God that is inherent in all people because we are created by God. This is what Paul talks about in Romans chapter one as he speaks about the invisible characteristics of God and his eternal power which have been clearly perceived from the foundation of the world And in Acts 17, 28, as Paul speaks to the men of Athens and the Areopagus, and he speaks to them about the things that they do know about God, things that even their prophets, their poets spoke about God, that we live and move and breathe in God, that we are, in fact, even his offspring, There is an inherent knowledge of God that belongs to every person. Some may bury this knowledge, some may cover it up, some may put their fingers in their ears, some may try to close their eyes, and yet all people in the end know this God, know this Father who created all worlds. And still, in addition to this, God has revealed himself fully to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, this is one reason why God the Son is referred to as the Word, because he is the revelation of God. And when God the Word reveals God to us, he does it so that we may believe him. And this is what Jesus constantly harps on and appeals to in the Gospel of John. He is constantly confronting the people around him with the fact that they refuse to believe him, even in the verses that I just read in John chapter 8, when Jesus says that when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He. God the Word came to reveal And so, when we believe in him, then we are saved. As Jesus teaches in Matthew 11, as he talks about the hiddenness of God, and how it is that a person can come to know this hidden and holy God. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son, and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. we could look at many other places in the Gospel of John where Jesus appeals to his listeners to believe him and to find life in his name. And as well, it is the Holy Spirit who gives us this understanding. And so, even as we inherently know God the Father, and even as we hear the message of God the Son, the Word of God who became flesh, How is it that we can come to an understanding of these things, to an understanding of the gospel, and to an understanding of the true God? It is through the work of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul talks about this as well. He says, as it is written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him. These things God has revealed to us through the spirit. For the spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words, not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. So hear that again. We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And so even in this calling that the Lord has laid on you to be his witness, you receive this calling from the triune God. It is through the triune God that you know and believe and understand the things that God has for you. It is through the work of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Now we see it also in these words in verse 12. He says, I declared and saved. and proclaimed when there was no strange God among you. I declared and saved and proclaimed." When he says, I declared, he literally says in Hebrew, I have caused it to be said. And when he says, I saved, he literally says, I have caused to be saved. And when he says, I proclaimed, he literally says, I have caused to hear. I have caused it to be said, I have caused you to be saved, and I have caused you to hear. God the Father is the one who decreed in the beginning for our salvation and for the creation. God is the one who planned these things in the beginning. As we read in the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter 1, where we read, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. according to the purpose of His will. It is especially the work of God the Father to decree the work of salvation. And it is especially the work of God the Son to be Savior. God the Son gave Himself to be a mediator, to take on human flesh, to become man And God the Son is the one that when He entered into this world, when He became a man, He took on a name, a name given Him by His Father. And that name is salvation. Right? Jesus. That's what that name means. Salvation. And here we read God saying, I am the only God. I am the only Lord. And besides me, there is no Savior. There is no Savior besides the Lord. And so when we find one coming into the world, one who is given a name by God, and that name is salvation. And God explains through his angel, for he will save his people from their sins. As we read in Matthew chapter one, we are reading about our God. Our God, who does not share His glory with any other. Our God, who does not allow any other to be Savior, but who does this work Himself. God the Son, who took on flesh, whom we worship. And finally, God the Holy Spirit, who not only gives us new life, but God the Holy Spirit, who causes us to hear. who causes us to hear the gospel, who causes us to believe, who applies the work of salvation accomplished by Jesus to us. It is the work of the Spirit to make us hear, to make us understand, to give us new hearts. And so even here in these verses, I declared and saved and proclaimed when there was no strange God among you. In the light of the New Testament, we find here the Holy Trinity speaking to us through the prophet Isaiah. And this God, this Holy Trinity, is creator and savior and judge. This God alone, eternal and triune, has created us by the word of the Lord, where the heavens created the earth and all that is in them. By this God alone, eternal in triune, do we find salvation. Besides me, there is no Savior. I declared, saved, and proclaimed when there was no strange God among you. I chose you to know and believe and understand that I am He. And as God the Son said when He was on earth, unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins, John 8, 24. And unless you honor the Holy Spirit as God, you will commit that unforgivable sin, that eternal sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Salvation comes through this triune God, and this triune God is also judge. In Acts 17, we read that God has appointed the man Jesus Christ, who he raised from the dead, to be judge of all the earth. In Jude, we read about the work of Jesus as judge, a work that has already begun. In Jude, verse 5, he writes, now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he is kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. What we see in these verses And what we see in many other places in scripture is that the judgment carried out by the Lord Jesus Christ, the judgment carried out by this triune God on those who refuse to repent and believe the gospel is not a judgment of annihilation. It is an eternal judgment. It is an unquenchable fire, as Isaiah says in the very end of his book, in the final words of his book. It is an unquenchable fire, it is a worm that will not die, as Jesus also quotes these words in Mark 9. And as elsewhere in Matthew 18, Jesus says it is an eternal fire. Now, brothers and sisters, why is this important for us to remember? How is this good news? How is this something that is helpful for us or something that is kind and loving for us to speak to those around us? Some years ago when I lived in Rhode Island, I encountered some Jehovah's Witnesses at a local park. And as I spoke with them, I realized as I was speaking with them that I was speaking to people who did not believe this doctrine, who did not believe in the doctrine of hell, And as I spoke with the man, the man began to get animated, especially when I talked about hell. And he said, oh, don't get me started on the doctrine of hell. That's another crazy thing that you all believe. And I said, hold on. Hold on. If you're right, then I will simply cease to exist. But if you're wrong, then you will be in hell. This is something that we need to take to heart for ourselves and for our children and for our neighbors. The gospel really is good news. The gospel is not a message that you can just have an even better life than you already have. The gospel is the message of salvation from the eternal wrath of God. And it is good news because it is God Himself who saves us from His own wrath. It is God Himself who has come and who has suffered in the flesh His own wrath for our sake. And if we take away this doctrine of hell, what is left of the gospel? What is left of the good news? If we take away this doctrine, what reason does anyone have to abandon all and follow this Lord? And why should we believe that this is actually, really, truly good news? And my friends, I just have to say that I struggle with this. I struggle with this. It is difficult to have a conversation with someone, to have a disagreement with someone about scripture, about religion, about the gospel, and to know, and to behave as though these things matter for eternity. It's hard for me to think about things that matter for five years. It's hard for me to think about the decisions that I make as a husband and as a father and how those will affect my children for the rest of their lives. But how much more when we are confronted with eternity? And are we willing, do we believe this to be true? If we do, are we willing to speak to our friends and to our family and to our neighbors? about these things. Because as Paul says to the Thessalonians, indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us. When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels inflaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed." Theology matters. And so let us remember that. Let us honor the name of our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us pray that the Lord would call his elect out of the darkness of false teaching, which is all around us and even next door. Let us seek to know our God, to know Him truly, to know Him as the only Lord, the only Savior, the only Judge, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And let us be witnesses so that others may believe through our testimony. Let's pray. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we come before you in awe of who you are as our God, in awe of who you are as the eternal creator and savior, the only judge, the one to whom all must give an account, before whom we will all be exposed and naked in your judgment, You, Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we praise you that from eternity you have made a plan and given a decree for the salvation of your people. And we thank you that in your wisdom you have taken on flesh, Lord Jesus, to be our Savior, to suffer for our sins. And we praise you, Holy Spirit, for your wonderful work of converting, of giving new hearts, of opening ears and causing us to hear. And we pray that through us, you would also bring many more to the knowledge of the truth to believe in this wonderful good news so that we may be saved and so that our friends and our neighbors and even those who are far away from us may be saved. from the guilt and the power of sin which must end in death unless you intervene. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.