If You Were

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!

You are not just flesh and blood today, but you are also soul and you are spirit.

The spirit is the thing that drives a person to become what or who they are, but it is the soul that encompasses all that a person is whether in body or in spirit.  

The soul, never dies.. 

It is the soul that God loves.

He will chastise the flesh.

It was for your eternal soul that Christ died on the cross.

God loves your soul.. 

Genesis 2:7 says, "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." The word being means "soul," therefore, Adam, became a living soul.

And since is it God, Who created man, He knows that the flesh, is temporal and it is the soul of a man that is eternal, is the soul of man that He strives for, that for which He suffered on the cross.

That is why the pleasures of this earth, can temporarily satisfy the flesh, but they can never satisfy the soul. That is why earthly pleasures never seem to last.. it is our soul that longs to be satisfied.

And that, beloved, can only be fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
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.

A man is a fool, a fool above fools, to neglect salvation offered in Christ because of who Christ is Let's look at verse 1 of our text again, "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it"

Some have asked what does this verse have to to do the character of Christ? Well, allow me to just point that out now. Some translations use the word "therefore", the NASB, uses "For this reason", both which literally means because of what you already know. Hebrews chapter 1, we are told who Christ is:
He is called the Son

He is called the heir of all things, 

He is called the one who made the world.  

He is called the brightness of the glory of God.

He is better than the angels.

He is the one who purged our sin.

He is the one whom the angels worship.

He is prōtotokos, in the original text, or the chief of all.

That is who Christ is, so "For this reason, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard"

Do you understand now what the text is saying? Because of who Christ is, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do allow the time to receive salvation to slip by us. 

What I am trying to say here, is just what kind of a fool would reject that kind of Christ who came into the world, who is God incarnate, that would for you and me, die on a cross, to forgive your sin and mine, to pay the penalty, to show you love, to introduce you to God, to give you blessing and joy beyond imagination? 

Beloved, who would reject that?

Christ, by his own character, makes rejection the most idiotic and foolish act a man can make.

In the original Greek, the word used was prosechō, which is translated, we must give attention, anchor or to tie it up, as in a ship.

And the word pararuōmen which in the simplest terms means to let slip.

So this can be translated to we need to anchor what we've heard, the Word, so the ship of life, doesn't drift away from us.

Spiritual stability runs very closely with emotional stability.

If you are spiritual unstable, you are going to be overwhelmed, frustrated, exhausted emotionally.

I've been there, I've lived in that place, it's an awful, awful way to live... 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

John 3:16

Jesus wants you to be with Him... He doesn't want you to perish. That's why He died in your place, took your punishment, if you would just receive Him and accept His payment for sin for yours.

If You Were To Die Today, where Would You Spend Eternity?

I love what Jesus says in Luke 9:44, “Let these words sink into your ears;"

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

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Brian Monzon Ministries