They had found a place to move to over here in the county. We're glad to have everybody. Glad to have Mr. and Ms. Bosch back. And glad to have Brian and Leah and David with us this morning. They're from Mobile, Alabama. All the way up here in the sticks. In the boondocks is what he told me last night. Where we live is in the boondocks. Yep, that is the truth. Ain't going to argue about that. I kind of like it that way. You think I live in the boondocks, you ought to see where Mike Namie lives. Yes, sir. All right. We're not gonna go to John again this morning. Now, maybe next week we'll get back to John, but I don't know. I've just had these things on my mind. The Lord's just been pressing me with them, so I'm gonna, we're gonna do something else again this morning here. But I think this is very important. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 13 and verse 11. We'll read that, and then we'll read, I'll read Matthew 25 and 46. But in Isaiah chapter 13 and verse 11, The Bible says this, and I will punish the world for their evil. Now that's God speaking. God said that. It wasn't a man who said that. That's the words of God. I will punish the world for their evil. And the wicked for their iniquity. And I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease. And God is able to do that. You better believe. I can't do that to somebody else. We'd like to be able to do that to somebody else a lot of times, but we can't really do that. We might humble them for a spell, or we might get the best of them for this round, but there'll be another round. God knows how to fix it. He said, He'll cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease. God's going to punish the world for their iniquity. He's going to punish the wicked for their iniquity. And He's going to cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease. And He said, We'll lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. That's a promise of God. Just as much as all of the other wonderful promises of God are true, this is true. God promised some things that don't sound so delightful, but they're right. And they're just as necessary as the other. You know, everybody wants the sweet, leave the rest, but this is necessary. What I want to talk to you about this morning is why there must be eternal punishment. There must be eternal punishment. Matthew chapter 25 verse 40, Jesus said this, among many of the other times that he referred to this matter, he said, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. So, I believe that, and it's my observation when I just get the, you know, this is the way I sense it from the attitude of everybody, I believe very few people really believe in eternal punishment anymore. I think that most people really have convinced themselves that when you die you'll just go to sleep if you're not saved and you'll just cease to exist and that'll be it. Wrong. If there's a God in heaven and if this Bible's true, that is very wrong. That is not true. Jesus said there'll be eternal punishment. God promises eternal punishment. Punishment. More than just being separated from the righteous. More than just going to sleep and ceasing to exist. You'll be conscious and you'll be suffering punishment for eternity. The love-only gospel has been preached long enough to pollute and dilute the minds of enough people that the truth of eternal punishment seems to be an absurdity to most people. Even, and I really believe, maybe even more in the church than out of the church. People that sit in the churches don't believe in eternal punishment. If you did, you wouldn't sleep in church, you wouldn't take everything so lightly, I mean, there'd be some fear of God, but the fear of God's gone because God ain't gonna punish nobody. Dying is just ceasing to exist. And the easy way out is to die. Don't have to worry anymore. That's what everybody believes, don't it? Ain't that what everybody says? Somebody dies, somebody even commits suicide, and they say, well, they're better off. They're better off. They're in a better place. You think the grave is a better place? Well, if it was just the grave, might have an argument there. But it's not just the grave. No, no. Now we're gonna read some scriptures here. The rich man died and was buried. That's it, he's in the grave. But the Bible says in hell he lift up his eyes. And that hell is not the grave. He lift up his eyes, he's seeing, he's aware, he's conscious, he's feeling the pain and the suffering and the torments. He referred to him over and over. He's fully aware and conscious of where he's at, that he is still existing, but he is suffering punishment and there's no way out. And that was 2,000 years ago when Jesus told us about him and he's still there right now. in the same condition, suffering the same torment. And see, everybody just says, oh no, no. We've heard so much of the love gospel, the love only gospel, that we just can't believe. We're like everybody else always saying, I just can't believe that a loving God would punish somebody for eternity. How could they do that? Because He is a loving God, that's why. He loves His. He loves holiness. He's righteous and He's just. We can't believe the Bible and believe in Jesus without believing the fact that eternity will be eternal bliss for the saved and it'll be eternal punishment for the wicked. Now, I think this is the thing that's been left out. It's being left out of the modern message, isn't it? It sure is. When I was a kid, if I went to church, I heard about hell. And I heard that I was going there. If I didn't repent and believe in Christ, I was going to hell. And hell wasn't a grave. You know, how do people come up with these ideas? Billy Graham said there was no fire in hell. All these modern preachers that are so popular said they couldn't find fire in hell in the Bible. Well, they don't read the Bible. I read it this morning and there's too many verses to even put them down and take the time to talk about here this morning. Jesus made it very plain. And the whole Bible does. But anyway, Jesus made it plain. Now, justice requires eternal punishment. And God is just. So there will be eternal punishment. You say, what do you mean? Well, this is what I mean. One of the basic attributes of God is that He is a just God. You got to start there. In order to get your doctrine right about sin and forgiveness and atonement and everything else, you've got to understand that God is just. That means He's going to do what's right. He is no respecter of persons, neither can his judgment be affected by gifts, bribes. You can't buy him off with your sweet-talking and your offerings and your service that's only to gain his favor. You ain't gonna change him that way. God's gonna judge with righteous judgment, always. And so God has to be that way and he just always and forever must be that way or he can't be God. If God ever treats somebody better than the other one, if he ever hurts somebody in order to please somebody else, he can't be God. Now, how unjust, think about it, how unjust would it be for a person to live a life of sin and rebellion and selfishness and transgress against God and other people and then just simply cease to exist? Do you think it's just for a serial murderer and all of the perverts and people that hurt children and other people? You think it's just for them to just have their lights put out and that's it? They die and they'd suffer nothing for what they've done. You think that's just? No, it's not just. There ain't an ounce of anything in you that agrees with that. Now you, if it's somebody else, you might say, well, yeah, but if it's your family, your loved one, your, any of you, body that you care about that's the victim, you don't think that way. You don't feel that justice has been served if they just put him in jail, which ain't jail no more. Put him in jail and take care of him and give him everything he needs for the rest of his life. You don't feel like justice has been served, do you? Somebody murder your child, murder your wife or your husband and just go to prison and maybe get out in 20 years or less. I think the average that I read some time ago, the average time that a murderer spends in prison is seven years and they're out. You would not feel that justice had been served, would you? Well, how can you feel that justice is served when somebody lives a life of sin and rebellion against God, hatin' God, hatin' righteousness, hatin' the people of God, doin' wrong to everybody, and then just die and cease to exist? No consciousness of loss, no pain, no regret, no agony of mind simply ceasing to exist. That'd be something for the wicked to look forward to with hope and comfort. Wouldn't it? Sure it would. The easy way out. To finally have peace. And more people believe that than you are aware of. Or that I'm aware of. I don't think we really get our mind around how common that is among people. They really believe that no matter who it is, when they die, they're better off. No. No, the punishment, the reward comes after. Don't forget it. That's the very hope of the infidel and the unbeliever. That's what they're banking on. They're counting on What they believe to be true that when they die it will just be nothing. They won't know nothing. They won't be aware of anything. They just escape it all. Well, I get about that far every time, don't I? Look at that bottle leaning over there like that. What is that about? But sin is a moral and a spiritual evil. Then it's manifested in the physical realm, but its consequences don't stop because the physical body of the sinner is dead. Do you hear what I said? Again, the rich man in Luke chapter 16, his physical body died and they put it in the ground. But in hell, this man was still alive, still conscious, still aware. and suffering the consequences of his selfish, self-centered, proud, rebellious-against-God life he was suffering for. And he's not the only one. The majority of the human race that's ever lived, that's where they're at right now. And that's where the majority of the rest of them is headed. The sinner will be alive spiritually to face God and receive the reward of his sin for eternity. The resurrection of Christ proves that, guarantees it. He's gonna be alive. I'll preach to you and preach to you about that. You hear all this. And you say, well, okay, that's true. But the thing about it is, you consider yourself safe, no matter what. And that's what I really want to yank your chain about this morning. Are you really safe? Are you saved? Are you really safe? I mean, are you gonna face God and hear those words depart from me? You that work iniquity. You know, I don't know about all of you. I don't know. Some of you, I've never heard you say, I'm saved. I know I'm saved. Are you? It would behoove you to think about it this morning because this is a fact. You die without Christ and there is no place in heaven for you. And there is the only place to exist Outside of where God and the righteous are is going to be the lake of fire in eternity. And that's where you'll be if you are not born again. If there's no Almighty God to face after death, then there'll be no consequences for our sins. But life itself shows us that that is a lie. To think that sin has no consequences, you got to be an absolute fool to believe that by just looking around you in life at the people you know. If you've lived long enough to even know your right hand from your left, you've seen what sin does to people in this world. and the mess that it causes, and the pain, and the grief, and the sorrow. It's what introduced all of the sorrow into this world that has ever been. Sin is what done it. A lot of people end their own lives because they've been made miserable by their own sins or by the sins of other people. And to the point that they can't even bear to live any longer. And then how can you think that sin, after death, that death is somehow a race of sin and its consequences? How can you think that? After death, you're still gonna be alive. You say, I don't believe that. Well, the infidel don't believe that, and the skeptic don't believe that. The one who loves his sin don't believe that, but he will. And more and more people, you know, all this stuff, been preaching on paganism, been doing a lot of reading and researching and stuff, and you know, it's amazing at all how, it's just, man, we're just really on to something there. And the scientists and all these people, they're trying to prove that man does exist. I saw yesterday, I read a part of this article about it, and this scientist, he thinks he has proven that man does exist. after death in somehow, somewhere, in another dimension. You know, they go to all that crazy stuff. The man still, well, never mind. I don't want to chase that rabbit. But I'm just telling you, for you to sit in church and not fully believe that after you close your eyes in death, you're going to be still alive, you don't believe that, and there's people that are absolute pagans out there that believe it. Something wrong. How could you sit in church where there's a King James Bible being preached out of and you know what it says and I'm going to read a bunch more. But I mean what I've already read ought to be enough to shake your cage. If sin makes this life miserable, it'll make eternity miserable. You can bank on that. The resurrection of Jesus abolished death. So everybody that's ever been alive is gonna be alive in eternity. But you're gonna be alive in heaven with God or you're gonna be alive in hell being punished for your sinful life here on earth and your refusal to trust and believe in Christ. Amen. And if that's not true, might as well give it up. We might as well just throw in a towel, join up with the rest of them, eat, drink, be merry, and party till it's all over. Because there ain't nothing to none of it. It's a fact that eternal punishment must be true. It is going to happen. If only a foolish person would bank their eternity on the hope that death will erase the sin they've committed on the earth. There's so many ways I could make analogies to that, but I won't. I told you, I'm trying to hurry, like I told you Wednesday night. Remember, I told you I'm trying. The punishment after death does not consist in the fact that they'll be removed from the righteous and separated forever. We hear that a lot, and it is true. That is exactly what God is going to do. He's going to separate the ungodly and the wicked from the righteous. One on His right hand, one on His left hand. Those are going to be told to depart. They're going to be cast off into outer darkness. They're going to be, at the great white throne judgment, cast into the lake of fire. They're going to be separated from God's people. That's true. But that's not their punishment. That isn't their punishment. That to them, that'd be heaven. They hate us here, they hate God here, they hate righteousness here, and to be rid of all of that and everybody that stood for it would be just exactly what they want. It'd be heaven to them to just get rid of any reminder of God, any other people that want to judge them because of God, just get rid of it. Well, they're going to get that, but that's not their punishment. They hated righteousness on the earth and anyone who stood for it. So to be rid of all that they hated for eternity would be very pleasing to them. It seems that the concept of hell has become like modern prisons, you know, that we just lock them up behind a fence and they still have all the things that everyone on the outside has and are not punished at all, but cared for and protected and have all their needs met. You know, Zach works in that prison down there, and you know, I know other people who go in prisons and stuff, and prison ain't prison anymore. No, it's not. They have everything they need in there, everything they want, really. They can just, the drugs don't have any trouble getting in. They ain't got them on the outside, they got them on the inside. Always! No problem. They got money, they got weapons, You know, they've got their tablets, they've got social media and access to the outside world through the internet, they can make money, they can do all kinds of things while they're in prison. They're not being punished. You know what being punished would be like? As if they were out here busting rocks. If they had to work, if they had to, you know, and that's not even like eternal punishment. But punishment is suffering. See, we got this whole new modern idea that punishment is just depriving you of something, taking something away from you. Or time out, and you sit in a chair and can't move for just a little bit, and that's punishment. And you're missing a vital element of the whole matter. There has to be punishment. When I grew up, we got punished. We got punished at home. We got punished at school. If we got out and messed with the law, we got punished for that. I mean, we suffered. They didn't just say, don't do that anymore, honey. They didn't just lock us up for a little while somewhere, kicking us out of school. They kind of started talking about that stuff when I was in school 50 years ago, but we thought it'd be great to get the three-day suspension from school. We could go fishing. We could lay in bed. We could do whatever we wanted. You're going to punish me by saying I don't have to come? But you know what they did before that? They said, bend over this desk. And they had a paddle about that long, and pow, pow, pow, pow. Had holes all in it, and it wasn't no laughing matter. And you didn't, you say, yeah, I got more whippings in high school than I ever did in grade school. High school, yeah, they took a paddle to us. You say, well, that's stupid. No, you're stupid. You don't understand things anymore. It made believers out of us, made us respect. See, we weren't made out of the same stuff as this generation is, that's full of rebellion and pride and thinks they're wise in their own eyes and nobody's got a right to to stop them or forbid them anything or tell them anything. We understood who the authority was because they had the power. And I see this whole generation's lost because of it. They don't understand there's a God in heaven that's got all power and he can do whatever he wants to with you. And you got no power against Him. And this is what He says He is going to do. He's going to punish you forever. And He will do it, I promise you. This generation is going to find out. Some things that they mocked at, at all of us, and the generations all before us, I heard somebody the other day saying, you know, the generations before us raised children for thousands of years. And now this generation thinks they've got it all figured out. And it's all contrary to what has always been the standard way of raising children. They know how to discipline and they know how to punish. You just don't do it. That's what you do. You don't punish them. You don't discipline. You talk to them. You reward them. You love them. And they just all turn out right. No, they don't. No! That's not the way it works. And here's the thing he pointed out. He said, they raised the children that built this world that you're living in. They're the ones who raised children that saved the day from evil. Like World War II, you know, for example. What has this generation's children done so far? And what does it look like they're going to be able to do? Matt ought to back up and reconsider the wisdom that this generation thinks it has. Punishment is part of things turning out like they're supposed to. Justice. Right. The wicked will be punished and they'll be punished by God. There's got to be punishment besides the separation. That's why there's a place somewhere outside the universe in the outer darkness where there's a lake of fire. There's something hardwired into the very constitution of every human that says this is true. And I'm going to show this to you. If your child or other loved one, and I've already jumped over and got ahead of myself, but if they're brutally murdered or by some wicked person or they're simply put behind bars and cared for the rest of their life, you don't feel like justice has been served. And no one really feels like that is justice. Even if it's a stranger that it happened to. You know that's true. Our very conscience and innate sense of justice tells us that they must be punished for their evil. Doesn't it? And see, our desire is, I'll punish them. I'll! Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. What does that mean? He's just going to cause them to cease to exist. Erase them. He's going to separate them in a place where they won't bother you anymore. And that's their punishment. No. No, God's going to do more than that. He's got a place where He's going to put them. A lake of fire. That's right at the end of the Bible. That's where it all ends. The devil, the false prophet, and everybody whose name is not written in the book of life, that's where they're going. And that's the end of the story. And that's where they'll be. Day and night, forever. They're not just gonna be locked away to a life of comfort and no worries. All right, I'm gonna read you a bunch of scripture. You say, well, that's you talking. Well, here's, this is not me talking. This is the scripture, Revelation 19, 20. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him. with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image." Now listen, these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Revelation 20 and verse 10, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. That's not allegorical, that's not some metaphor, that's not poetic, or it's not anything like that. It's literal facts that's going to happen. Revelation 20 and 14, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And Revelation 20 and verse 15, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Matthew 25 verse 41, Jesus said, Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. How come these guys can't see fire in the New Testament in hell? Why do they want to erase the matter of eternal punishment? And how can they and still stand up and look you in the eye and say they believe the Bible? and they're representing God. Mark chapter 9 verse 43 and 44 and this was repeated three times there. He said, if thy hand, if thine eye offend thee, 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 never shall be quenched. Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Fire, he mentions it twice. Go into hell. Hell's not the grave, because the grave, according to Jesus, there's fire in hell right here. Fire in hell. Parse your words any way you want to. You can't get out of the plain fact of what Jesus said here. The old timers were not stupid and ignorant and wrong. There's a place called hell and it has fire and that's where people go to be punished for their iniquity. Luke chapter 16 verse 22, I'm just going to start right there. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments. Notice the word torments in all of this scripture here. There's one. And seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And decide all this, between us and you there is a great gulfix, so that they which would pass from thence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us. that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." Yes, there's a place where the wicked will be punished for their sin. And it's more than being separated, and it's more than just being ceasing to exist. You're going to be alive and suffering. Being punished. Anything. You know, they used to tie men to a post. They did it to Jesus. And whipped Him. And they would whip Him until they died. Flail Him. You know, there's all kinds of ways people were punished. This is what God's talking about. You say, well, that ain't fair. No, it's not fair if it's not done. Why is it that you have this sympathy for people who will not repent and will not believe and continue to live in sin, which is transgression and trespass against others and against God? They hurt other people. Sin hurts other people. You know, murders, and rapists, and thieves, and they hurt other people. They cause confusion, and heartache, and grief, and misery to other people, and you just think that it ain't fair for God to punish them. I don't know what's wrong with people who think like that. Something wrong with your mind. You don't understand God, you don't understand sin. You don't understand anything except what you feel. Somehow you feel sympathy for the things and people that you should not feel sympathy for. Now right now, yes, we ought to have a burden for them because we can tell them. We can tell them how to escape this awful place. We can tell them how to escape the punishment for their sin. We can do that. We've got this opportunity. So yeah, we ought to... care and have a burden for them. But we're not going to win them by telling them and convincing them and joining them in believing that God, if they just can manage to die first, everything will be all right because they'll just cease to exist. There is no fire in hell and there isn't any eternal punishment. It's just that you won't get to go to heaven like the rest of us. We're not going to win them like that. This is part of the gospel message. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. It's the first thing you got to learn is that you better recognize what God can and will do with you if you continue in your sin and rebellion and stubbornness against God. The Bible makes it very clear that it is a place of torment, weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth and crying out for help and mercy. It's a place of pain. Whereas heaven is a place where God is going to wipe all tears away. There's going to be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more sickness. What a contrast. We love that promise, don't we? We rejoice in that promise and boy, ain't nobody gonna talk us out of that. Would you keep coming to church and would you keep serving God if they just threw out all of the reward for the righteous and said, ah, you're just gonna cease to exist? Or you're just gonna be put someplace away from the wicked and you don't have to worry about them anymore. Would you be happy with that kind of eternal promise? No, God's promised us all this wonderful reward. And we cling to that. But we don't like that other promise that He's going to punish the wicked for their iniquity. I will punish the world for their wickedness, for their iniquity. You say, you might think that I'm harsh and mean and full of hate. I'm not, but I'm glad that it's that way because I know that God is just. And when it's all settled and the judgment is over, everything's going to be satisfied and everything's going to be right in the universe again. The same Jesus who made all the wonderful promises of heaven to those who love Him also made these promises to those who hate Him. And we know who truly loves Jesus because Jesus Himself told us who they were. Here's what He said, He said in John chapter 14 verse 21, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. What about that? And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 15 verse 10, if you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. So keeping his commandments. What is sin? I mean, what's the basic definition of sin? It's the transgression of the law. You don't keep his commandments. I've heard preachers, I've heard lots of people who claim to be Christians say, I don't keep His commandments, nobody keeps His commandments. And Jesus says that's how, that's what tells if you love Him or not. First John chapter 2, I believe it is, says, He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. So anybody that says nobody can keep God's commandments, guess what the Bible says about you? Jesus said, my commandments are not grievous. And he said, he said, he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. You say, I love Jesus, but I don't keep his commandments. Boy, you got things mixed up. You really got things mixed up. You got some poison doctrine in your mind you need to get rid of. Those who do not truly love Jesus do not keep His commandments. Their habitual way of life is one of self-seeking and self-justification, excusing themselves for all they do, contrary to the moral law and character of God, and disregarding what their actions do to others. That is a sinner, and he'll answer to God for it. It doesn't matter what Jesus said, doesn't matter what the Bible says, doesn't matter what the law of God says, I just do what I think, what I feel. You know, I don't feel convicted. It's like God's got to do something special for you to convince you that he said don't do this or that he said do this. Even though the Bible tells you plainly, you don't feel convicted about it. Thou shalt not steal. Well, you just steal and feel like it's okay because God just hadn't convicted you about it. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Well, you just don't feel like God's convicted you of it. That's how much sense that makes, see? It's not true, it's a lie. This is the major part of the gospel and the whole truth of God is being left out of the modern message in the world right now. The churches are silent about it. Now, while it used to be a major focus of the preaching of the Word of God, that after this right here, and it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. How much time have you spent in the last week thinking and meditating on the fact that after you die, you're going to face God? You are going to face God alone. I mean, you are going to stand before God and give account of everything you've said, done. That's Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27, Matthew 12, 36. But I say unto you, Jesus talking, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Do you agree with me that this fact that we're going to face God after we die and give account has been forgotten, neglected, erased from the thoughts and minds and from the gospel message? God has. There's no fear of God. No fear of God. This will do a lot to keep you straight in your thinking if you just really realize and believe that you're going to face God. Your name is going to be called. I mean, there's going to be no more excuses. There ain't going to be no reasoning. Your foolish excuses and worldly poisoned reasoning that you've heard from all these fools in this world ain't going to hold a drop. I mean, you ain't going to speak. So, I mean, you have already been condemned. You're just there for the sentencing. And both ways. I mean, and I'm not going to go into all the different judgments and all of that, but there's a judgment for the righteous and there's a judgment for the wicked. You know, the judgment seat of Christ is not the white throne judgment. And the White Throne Judgment is not for God's people. We'll be there, but we won't, it's not for us. We're not gonna be judged there. We will have already been judged. I believe. The judgment is for the righteous, is for the reward. Enter thou into the glory that has been prepared for thee. Yeah, that's the reward for the righteous. The other is, depart from me ye cursed. It's the sentencing. Enter thou into the joy. Prepare for that, yeah. Romans 14 verse 11 and 12, for it is written, for it is written, as I live saith the Lord, Those words carry a mighty powerful punch. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 1 Peter 4 verse 4 and 5, wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you, who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. Ecclesiastes 12 verse 14, For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. You think you've kept secrets, have you? There ain't gonna be no secrets when you stand before God. That ought to scare you to death. Better clear everything up this side. Better do it now. I mean, today is the day of salvation. You better do it today. Might not have no tomorrow. You might find yourself standing before God. Do you know how fast it is? Heaven's not millions of miles away and neither is hell. I mean, you close your eyes. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And you close your eyes in death, and you're there instantly. The rich man was buried, and in hell he lift up his eyes. There wasn't no intermission. There wasn't no time to gather his thoughts. There wasn't no time to prepare his defense, which he had none. There you are. Daniel chapter 7 and verse 9 says this 9 and 10 I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the ancient that's where the capital a of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool and His throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. Thousand thousands ministered unto him and ten thousands times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set and the books were opened." Yeah, yes, we're going to be there. You're going to be there. This is a reality that you're going to find yourself standing in one of these days. And without a doubt, sooner than you think. Revelation 20 and verse 12, 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 out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. You believe there's going to be a judgment? You believe that the Bible teaches that we're going to face God and we're going to be judged and we're going to give account and that he's going to open the books and every secret thing that we ever thought or said, every idle word we ever said, we're going to give account of? You believe the Bible teaches that? I've read it to you. Revelation 20 verse 13, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. Now every person here right now, along with every person who ever lived, will most certainly face God and be judged according to their works. Every person will receive from God the reward deserved by the works of their life here on earth. What do you think you deserve? I mean, if you're gonna judge righteous judgment, and if you're gonna judge justly, say, well, I've been saved. Well, I hope you have. That's our only plea. We got a song we sing. All that I plea is Jesus. Have I done enough good works? Am I good enough to pass the muster? No, no. No, but I've got somebody who stood in for me. He didn't write a check and pay my sin debt. He died for me. He stood in my place. He took my place. He became sin for me. And I owe Him my life. I owe Him my heart. I owe Him my love. How do you feel about that? About yourself? Do you really love Him? Do you really live to please Him? Do you really feel as though He owns you? And is your life really being lived to His honor and glory? To exalt Him, to represent Him here in this wicked world in truth and righteousness. Is your life, does it measure up there? Our reward is gonna be based on that right there. How much did people see Jesus in me? For real, I mean real. Not just what I said, but how I lived. And what I lived for while I was here, after Jesus saved me, that'll be my reward. That'll be your reward. The modern doctrines of the churches have stolen away and tried to take, you know, hide or render the most profound truth, neuter the most profound truth here. This truth of the judgment of God, it's been hidden from everybody and ignored. But those who teach and those who believe those doctrines will be judged for it and rewarded by God for their wickedness and their foolishness. Better tell people. Better tell your children you're going to answer to God. I mean, it's not enough to tell them God's watching you now. They must understand that if they die, they're going to face God. And they're going to give account to God for what they do and how they live their life. They make sin a much lighter matter than God does. And I'm not going to go off on this. I'm trying to come in and finish this up. But, you know, it's done by transforming the gospel of Christ into a bartering system. And I think it cheapens the gospel down to where it's just so, so wrong. You know, and this is where they put me aside and say, he's a heretic. I'm going to tell you, the Bible does not say anywhere, anyhow, in any form, that Jesus paid for your sins. Nope, that's not what He did. He died for your sins. He died for your sins. He didn't write a check. He didn't hand Him a bag of gold or silver. And if He did, who'd He hand it to? The devil? Jesus died in our place. He gave Himself, Himself! He gave His life for us. were reconciled to God by the death of His sons. It's not reckoned as a debt. It's reckoned as life for death. He died in our place to satisfy the law of God. He died to fulfill the law of God. His sacrifice, his laying down of his life, his blood satisfied the justice of the law of God. It made a way for God to be able to forgive you and me and still remain just. Have you ever comprehended that? In Romans 3 verse 24, "...being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past." He doesn't say past, present, and future like modern preachers do. through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of them which believeth in Jesus." If He paid for me, He paid for past, present, and future, the debt's paid, you're good. You're clear. All that is laid aside and it's simply a matter of Jesus paid for all my sins, past, present, and future, and I do not have to pay. If Jesus paid for them, then why do I have to pay? And if He paid for the sins of all the world, then why does the sinner have to pay? It's a messed up analogy, and it's not scriptural, and it's not true. And I'm out of the camp. Yeah. Because you won't hear this from nobody. Very few. There's people out there that preach the truth. Yeah. Well, that's what the Bible said. In Hebrews, let us go, therefore, with him outside the camp. It's the way it's going to be. None of that is true, and it's not found in the scriptures, but only in the doctrines and traditions of men. And the truth is that we've all been condemned already, and we're simply waiting for our sentencing. And our only hope of escaping the wrath of God and the justice we deserve for our sins is to repent and believe the gospel now. John 3, 18, Jesus said, he that believeth on him is not condemned. That's wonderful news right there. But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Revelation 7 verse 9, After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. Well, who is that crowd? And one of the elders answered and sang unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them They shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore Neither shall the Sun light on them nor any heat for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them and Under living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes now no one has to face God unprepared and Doomed to eternal punishment God's gonna punish the wicked but you do not have to face God unprepared And you do not have to face eternal punishment you can escape But you must do it now. You can't wait. Remember Lot's wife. That's one of those short verses. She looked back and she didn't make it. That's the way it is right now. If you look back right now, you won't make it. If you don't keep your eyes on Christ and go to Him, You keep looking back to the world and it'll have its claws in you so deep you'll never escape. How do you make this real to people when they're so drunk on the world and the things of the world and their heads so full of the buzz of this world? How do you make this real to them? Why couldn't somebody reach that rich man? Well, because he's rich. His mind was too full of other things. Just like some are this morning. No one has to face God and hear those awful words from the lips of the one who died for you. Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed. Man, that's Jesus talking. Do you think it gives him pleasure to say those words? He looked out over Jerusalem and he wept. Because he said, how oft would I have gathered you together as a hen does gather her chicks under her wing and you would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. He feels the same way here. He's not going to be smiling. He's not going to be emotionless. He's not going to be happy when he pronounces this to that crowd of people who are weeping and saying, no, no. Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. It wasn't prepared for you. God didn't make hell for us. He made it for the devil and his angels. But since you love the devil, since you think the devil is God instead of me, then since you listen to the devil and follow the devil and take the part of the devil and won't turn, then you're going to have part in the punishment of the devil. But you surely will hear those words if you don't avail yourself of what Christ has done for you and yield your heart and life to Him. And if you don't do it now, are you saved this morning? You know, I'm not asking you, do you live a good life? Do you honor your mother and father? Do you come to church? Do you keep your mouth clean and don't talk dirty? You don't smoke weed and you don't drink beer? I'm not asking you that. Are you born again? Are you? I don't want anybody to sit here and drop off into hell out of these pews because they were never challenged about where you stand with God. You need to be saved if you're not saved. I don't know everybody's heart here. I know I love all of you. A lot of you is my family. I know some of my grandkids here. Some of them are just too young. But where are you? Where are you with God? Let's bow our heads. We'll have a word of prayer here, but before we pray, I want to ask you something. Everybody bow your heads. Nobody looking around. I just want you to answer this question. If you absolutely know that you are born again and heaven is your home and you have peace with God and Jesus has saved your soul, would you just raise your hand real quick and say, yes, I am, I know, yes. All right, you can put your hands down. What about you if you're here and you don't? You can't say for sure. If you'll just raise your hand, I'll be praying for you. And I'm not going to call you out and embarrass you or nothing like that, but I'd like to know where you stand so I know how to pray for you. Anybody here that says, I'm not sure, I'm just not absolutely sure? There should be a moment in your life, there ought to be a time and a place that you can remember where you really surrendered your life to God. Do you have that? If you don't have that. Father, pray You'd work in hearts this morning. I pray everybody would be honest here this morning before You. Even if they don't be honest before us here. I pray they'd be honest before You. Lord, that they wouldn't deceive themselves or let the devil lie to them and cause them to end up in eternal woe and misery. Please help them to realize this morning the great cost of failing to Yield their life to you and be born again. I Pray that you would Work in our lives and help us to be a better witness and help us Lord to remember this great truth here this morning and to teach it to our children and grandchildren and to remind one another of it and Lord to make it a part of our witnessing to people, to remind them that they will face you one day in answer. Help us, Lord, to be ready for that. Bless the word of God in our hearts and minds now, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.