Understanding Salvation
Notes
Transcript
Last week we looked at the reason we Go. we explored passages of scripture with familial language. We looked at the beginning when God created man to have a relationship with him. We talked about the father sending the son so that we could be adopted into the family of God.
It is in this family framework that we are to understand the great commission. We are to be about the work of our father. We are to be like Jesus who was the example in all of this.
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
We are to be people proclaiming to all the spiritual orphans that there is a good father who wants to adopt them into his family. God the Father has prepared a way for us through his son. So that all who will repent and turn from thier sin and in faith believe in him will be adopted and escape the judgement
So then the question comes, what is this wrath from which we are to escape?
For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,
Notice with me how Paul says that God’s wrath is revealed or directed toward ALL UNGODLINESS. So then the purpose of God’s wrath is to correct sin.
So fundamentally God’s wrath is His response toward sin. However his wrath is not sperate from his love but because of it. His wrath in the life of the nation of Israel was always intended for purification. To Bring Israel to repentance.
Listen to this quote from the book Divine Wrath by Jim West
Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview
But more profoundly, the wrath of God serves to remind people that God wishes their best and is willing to take physical action to inhibit the self-destructiveness of human rebellion. Said another way, God’s wrath is the twin of God’s mercy. Mercy without correction is mere permission, and mere permission never has the best interests of the person in mind. God’s wrath, then, is God’s mercy. And God’s mercy is, because of the nature of God’s love, sometimes made known in God’s punishment of wrongdoing and wrongdoers.
another Author describes it this way.
“Critically, God’s wrath and love never separate—his love restrains and directs his wrath, ultimately using it to restore people to right relationship, and because his wrath stems from love and holiness, it cannot exist apart from love or override it”.
“Critically, God’s wrath and love never separate—his love restrains and directs his wrath, ultimately using it to restore people to right relationship, and because his wrath stems from love and holiness, it cannot exist apart from love or override it”.
So then how does an eternal hell fit into this picture?
Because of God’s desire to see all come to repentance in the world His wrath is tempered by common grace. That is for a period of time God has chosen to extend common grace to all in order to give mankind time to repent and turn to him. We see this example with Noah.
and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
Even as God had already chosen to judge the earth, Noah preached the righteousness of God until that day had come.
Right now we are living in a similar world. God has pronounced that Judgement on the world is coming. The time has been set. No man knows the day or the hour but he is coming back to judge the world.
The era of common grace will be removed and God’s unrestrained wrath will be poured out on all those that reject the new ark of salvation Jesus Christ.
So then the lake of fire is God eternal response to sin. It is God’s eternal unrestrained wrath against sin.
So do understand salvation one must understand what it is that we are rescued from. So then how does the bible describe this place? I assure you that the only pleasure that I get from describing to you this morning the eternal judgement of God comes from three things.
No. 1 I can rejoice this morning that God has saved me from this terrible fate.
No. 2 I can rejoice in the knowing that in the preaching of God’s wrath there may be one here this morning that would repent and turn to Jesus Christ and be saved from this coming fate.
No. 3 I can rejoice because understanding God’s eternal wrath moves us to share the hope of Jesus Christ to our lost family, friends, and neighbors.
So then how does the bible describe this place of torment?
A place of unquenchable fire and torment
A Place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
A Place of complete darkness and Isolation
A Place of complete despair
No. 1 A place of unquenchable fire and torment
No. 1 A place of unquenchable fire and torment
“And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb,
and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.
The phrase, “Where thier worm does not die” doesn’t mean that there are necessarily worms in hell but rather signifies a putrid state of unending decay. The location of the eternal lake of fire will also be a state of eternal putridness and decay.
No 2. - A Place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
No 2. - A Place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness.
They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out.
Jesus used the term weeping and gnashing of teeth six times when describing the eternal judgment. It is a phrase that conveys horrific sorrow and agony. The phrase gnashing of teeth conveys the idea of extreme torment, rage and grinding of ones teeth in agony.
No. 3 - A Place of Complete Darkness and Isolation
No. 3 - A Place of Complete Darkness and Isolation
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever.
No. 4 - A Place of Complete Despair
No. 4 - A Place of Complete Despair
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
“Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!
Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.
Once a person stands before the Holy God and is sentenced there is no hope of redemption.. It is a final sentencing where there is no longer any hope of rescue from the eternal torment.
revelation 20 gives us a glimpse into this terrifying scene.
Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.
I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the final judgment, meaning there isn’t another opportunity to be made right with God. Once this takes place there is no hope for those who have chosen to live in rebellion against God in rejecting His son.
So Then Pastor Brett, why tell us this bad news. As terrible as all this is and it is terrible. I want to circle back to the 3 things that we can rejoice in.
No 1. If you are born again. God’s great love has spared your from this terrible fate.
No 1. If you are born again. God’s great love has spared your from this terrible fate.
It is in the understanding of the depths torment that we have been spared from that we can say along with
how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
My hope is that in understanding from what we have been spared from that our hearts would overflow with gratitude that would result in a changed perspective on life.
No. 2 We can rejoice this morning that in preaching God’s wrath there may be one who in great fear will turn in repentance and faith.
No. 2 We can rejoice this morning that in preaching God’s wrath there may be one who in great fear will turn in repentance and faith.
that is my hope this morning that you will stop putting off the great salvation that has been freely offered to you. The preaching of God’s wrath is a giant warning sign that says do not die in your sins. Do not go to this place.
No. 3 - We can rejoice because understanding God’s eternal wrath can moves us to share the hope of Jesus Christ to our lost family, friends, and neighbors.
No. 3 - We can rejoice because understanding God’s eternal wrath can moves us to share the hope of Jesus Christ to our lost family, friends, and neighbors.
This is where this message fits into our “who’s your one” movement.
Church family the reality is that hell is real. The anguish will be unimaginable. People that we know and love ,outside of the gospel, are headed for this fate. Which one of us, even an enemy headed for a collapsed bridge that was out wouldn’t warn them.
The truth of the matter is that in order for us to through our lives without sharing the warning of what is coming means that we have to ignore this reality ourselves because if we were to truly think about it I believe that all of us would be moved with compassion to warn those around us, especially those whom we care about.
It is so easy for us after finding salvation in Jesus Christ to forget what we have been saved from and for us to live our lives much as the lost world does....ignoring the reality of hell.
Let that not be said of us....Let us with grateful hearts rejoice in the gospel and share the love and mercy of Christ.
So Church family so who is your one?
