Good Morning Beloved Family,
It is such an honor and privilege to have all of here today
Thank you for joining us
Let us pray...
Heavenly Father,
Those of us who are saved by Your grace
are so grateful, so very thankful for what You have done for us
But there are some among here today, who are not yet saved..
I know personally, have never received Jesus Christ, although you come, you listen,
you’ve never received Him.
Father, I pray, that today, You would open the ears of those here today,
soften their hearts, that Your Word might penetrate deep within them
There are some here today, on that knife's edge, facing the possibility
of passing up salvation and moving into disaster.
Lord, I pray, let them be moved today
Speak to each one of them
that they might not just hear Your Word
but that they would respond to it today
to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior
All for Your glory and increase in the Kingdom
In Jesus' name this I pray
Amen
Today's Message: If You Were To Die Today
"For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."
Hebrews 2:1-4
Hell is undoubtedly full of people who neglected to respond to the gospel.
People, who were made well aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus
Christ,
but who were never quite willing to commit their lives to Jesus Christ.
And so it is, they have drifted past the call of God into eternal and lasing disaster, Hell.
Such people are mentioned in these four verses of our text...
So I ask each of you here today, this:
If You Were To Die Today, where Would You Spend Eternity?
I want to pause for a moment before answering, think about it carefully...
It wasn't until someone posed that very question to me, that I began to seriously think
about my answer. Sure, I thought about heaven, imagine what it must be like..
and I suppose, the same was true of Hell...
But now I was being asked to go beyond that..
to think about where I had chosen up to this point in my life to spend eternity..
The Word of God always demands a response...always.
Therefore, that makes for extremely urgent and important question.
Eternity...
That my friend is a very, very long time!
In fact, eternity is timeless, there is no beginning and there is no....end.
I would like to extend Christ's invitation, to receive Him as your Savior. To accept His sacrifice on the cross as payment in full for your sins. The wages of sin is death, eternal death. Separation for God forever.
If you think the world is unkind, cruel and unfair now, having the influence of God being present, with the people of God that are continuously praying for you, imagine how much greater than are the horrors of Hell without God, or hope to an end...
Christ will return "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye", there will not be time to receive Him then, as the time will have passed, that is sealed, that is settled, it is forever. So, those who can be saved will have already been saved and those who rejected salvation, will be sent to Hell.
And so, beloved, at that point, time is no more and timeless eternity begins... eternal Heaven or ... eternal Hell.
My heart grieves for those of you today, who remain "lost," those who have heard the gospel message, know the all facts about Jesus Christ, know
that He died for you, know that He desires to forgive your sin, know
that He can come into your life and change your life, but are just not
willing to receive Christ as your Savior. And it is at this point, I am compelled to also add, that my unsaved friend, is the
most tragic category of people in existence on the planet today.
I have known several people, who have said "I can't take it anymore, I give in! I need Jesus."
And then when I have suggested they burn those things in their life, be it pornography, drug paraphernalia, that little black book, the things that have kept them from Christ, some of them have then decided... "Maybe, I'm not ready yet, to make that kind of commitment.." That's a sad, sad statement. Because you see, when you are truly ready, when you have really had enough of the life without Christ, you will give up easily the things that lead you away from Him. And fire, is God's way of purification.
Now obviously, there are in fact, some things you cannot burn up, like people. You just cannot do that... however, if they have not received Christ, they'll have taken care of that process themselves, will they not? That is to say, they'll have committed their souls to eternal Hell, where everything and everyone will burn, without end.
I suppose that's why I have such a difficult understanding those who refuse to receive and accept Christ. If your life is filled with strife and struggle here, and you are exhausted from trying to solve your problems yourself and to no avail, why would you want an eternal existence where things are to be far worse? With no hope! No end.. I guess I just can't wrap my mind around that thinking.
If I've been offered a way out, a better plan.. and like you, I was, then I'm grabbing hold of it and hanging on for dear life! And I have.. yet some of you hearing this Word from God... and still linger in indecision. Let me just say, the time is quickly approaching where the decision making will be out of your hands.. and the offer rescinded.
Though the flesh die and decay, the soul God created in you will live eternally somewhere!
John 14:2-3
I can tell you this beloved, my dwelling place, my mansion is not in this world!
This place, I'm just passing through.
I have fixed my eyes much higher than even the wealthiest of earthly subdivisions!
It is designed and built by the Master Carpenter, Divine Builder, The Creator of All Things!
You can't buy it, you can't earn it, but you do have to accept it.
Bless your hearts. You that are here, and you have been just hanging on the fence about Jesus Christ. You know the truth. You may even believe the truth, but you aren't sure or just not willing to make a commitment of your whole life to Jesus Christ, and you’re just hanging on the fence. Well, may I inform you now, if you are hanging on the fence, you belong to Satan! That's right, he owns the fence! You see, he is one of those, "I screwed up big time and I'm going to make as many as I can pay right along with me" kind of guys. We've all known those kinds of people..
I'd also like to say, that because you are here, because you are hearing this Word, the Holy Spirit is giving you one more warning, and no one knows for certain, the hour in which Christ will return, it may very possibly be the last opportunity you will have to receive His invitation.
Indulge me for a moment, if you will, while I go a bit further, there are three great reasons to receive this salvation. The character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the confirmation of God, three perfect reasons to receive salvation.
He is called the Son
That's really a powerful statement. I love that. It's not enough to just hear it, let that get inside your head and change your life..
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."
Hebrews 1:1-2
Look at that...I want you to pay close attention here, that this verse gives the indication that the Word of God slips, it drifts from those who fail to respond to the Word. It sounds as though God is saying, "Hey look, I went to great lengths to make sure you get this, and yet you ignore Me, given you every opportunity, still you reject Me and so, have it your way! Now I'm taking it away from you!"
But that's not the point at all... The Word doesn't slip away from men, the Word is still there. It never changes. It’s always available until the time that a man slips beyond the point of grace. Men slip away, they drift from the Word of God. It's men who are saying, "I've heard you God and I reject your words. I don't need you." I have to wonder how many people who are in Hell were close to salvation
yet failed to commit?
Beloved, I believe it is the greatest tragedy, the ultimate tragedy to hear the message of the Gospel, having it preached to them, having it told to them, having it set before them and yet reject it. They fail to respond to it's call to them. That is a sad, terrible tragedy.
And so it is, today, you have again heard the call of God. Will you continue to slip from it, to drift?
Or will you at last heed His call? Will you respond to the Creator of the universe asking you to become a part of His family and receive His Son, His sacrifice?
If You Were To Die Today, where Would You Spend Eternity?
God is reaching out to YOU today, through His Word.
How will you respond?
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen