1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,125 2 00:00:04,167 --> 00:00:10,042 [music] 3 00:00:31,667 --> 00:00:36,417 About a year and a half ago, we began our study of the book 4 00:00:36,500 --> 00:00:38,917 of Luke, investigating the man who is God, 5 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:44,000 and we are taking about 2 years, actually, 6 00:00:44,083 --> 00:00:46,917 to go through the entirety of the book. 7 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,917 We're looking at Jesus. 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,333 We're looking at what he taught and what he did 9 00:00:52,375 --> 00:00:57,125 and how people responded to his person and work. 10 00:00:57,167 --> 00:01:01,917 And we do so because we believe the Bible is altogether true. 11 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,500 We believe that Jesus is altogether wonderful and worthy 12 00:01:07,542 --> 00:01:12,625 of even years in one book that teaches about him. 13 00:01:12,667 --> 00:01:16,917 And for me as a pastor, it gives me an opportunity to carefully, 14 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,625 prayerfully walk through issues, topics, 15 00:01:20,667 --> 00:01:23,500 and themes that otherwise we may not get to 16 00:01:23,583 --> 00:01:25,917 or I may not have chosen. 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000 It forces us in a loving and gracious and helpful way 18 00:01:30,083 --> 00:01:33,833 to wrestle with some issues that perhaps we spend a lot of time 19 00:01:33,875 --> 00:01:36,292 trying not to really be confronted with. 20 00:01:36,333 --> 00:01:40,000 And we find ourselves in one of those places today 21 00:01:40,042 --> 00:01:47,000 in Luke 16:19-31, where Jesus is going to tell us about heaven 22 00:01:47,083 --> 00:01:50,917 and hell, about the destiny of everyone who lives 23 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:52,667 following their death. 24 00:01:52,750 --> 00:01:54,208 You're going to die. 25 00:01:54,292 --> 00:01:55,792 I'm going to die. 26 00:01:55,833 --> 00:01:57,167 We're all going to die. 27 00:01:57,250 --> 00:01:58,917 We have been to funerals 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,833 and there will be a funeral for us as well. 29 00:02:01,875 --> 00:02:04,833 The question is, what then? 30 00:02:04,875 --> 00:02:07,417 What awaits us on the other side of this life? 31 00:02:07,500 --> 00:02:10,333 It is among the most important questions 32 00:02:10,375 --> 00:02:12,583 that we could possibly ask. 33 00:02:12,667 --> 00:02:15,000 What happens when we die? 34 00:02:15,083 --> 00:02:18,917 And so, today it is my intent to teach you the Bible 35 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:24,833 and really my job is to tell the truth. 36 00:02:24,875 --> 00:02:28,917 Jesus says repeatedly in the Bible, "I tell you the truth." 37 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:30,917 Jesus tells the truth. 38 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,833 My role and goal today is to tell you what Jesus said 39 00:02:34,875 --> 00:02:37,500 and to tell you the truth. 40 00:02:37,583 --> 00:02:40,667 Your job is to make a decision. 41 00:02:40,750 --> 00:02:43,000 What are you going to believe? 42 00:02:43,042 --> 00:02:45,083 That's your decision to make. 43 00:02:45,167 --> 00:02:51,083 For some of you who are new, you may not immediately trust me. 44 00:02:51,167 --> 00:02:54,625 For some of you who do know me and have been at the church 45 00:02:54,667 --> 00:02:57,167 for a while, I hope, I trust, pray 46 00:02:57,250 --> 00:03:01,000 I have earned a measure of your trust. 47 00:03:01,083 --> 00:03:03,417 I take my job very seriously. 48 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:07,125 The Bible says that not many should presume to be teachers 49 00:03:07,167 --> 00:03:12,125 and preachers because we are judged more harshly or strictly. 50 00:03:12,167 --> 00:03:15,333 So I've got a heavy responsibility. 51 00:03:15,375 --> 00:03:18,917 The Bible says as well that the leaders of the church 52 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,125 serve in such a way that we have to give an account, 53 00:03:22,167 --> 00:03:24,833 so I have to stand before God and give an account 54 00:03:24,875 --> 00:03:26,708 for me and for us. 55 00:03:26,792 --> 00:03:30,125 And as the church gets bigger, that weight gets heavier. 56 00:03:30,167 --> 00:03:33,833 If you've been here for a while, I hope you trust that I love you 57 00:03:33,875 --> 00:03:36,083 and I love this church. 58 00:03:36,167 --> 00:03:40,333 I started working toward this church 15 years ago 59 00:03:40,375 --> 00:03:42,792 as a young man hoping to plant a church, 60 00:03:42,833 --> 00:03:45,125 by the grace of God, with my wife. 61 00:03:45,167 --> 00:03:51,125 This is what I've been doing, pouring out all that I have 62 00:03:51,167 --> 00:03:53,417 for 15 years. 63 00:03:53,500 --> 00:03:57,083 And in the grace of God, this is what I'll be doing 64 00:03:57,167 --> 00:04:01,500 until you all come to my funeral. 65 00:04:01,583 --> 00:04:05,333 I do love you, I do love this church, 66 00:04:05,375 --> 00:04:07,917 and I do love the people in this church. 67 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,000 And I want you to know the truth. 68 00:04:12,083 --> 00:04:18,167 And I want you to make a decision about your eternity, 69 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:25,417 what story or teaching you will believe. 70 00:04:25,500 --> 00:04:29,625 And I tell you as one who studies, 71 00:04:29,667 --> 00:04:32,708 the Bible says that I'm to study to show myself approved, 72 00:04:32,792 --> 00:04:35,208 but one who loves and serves. 73 00:04:35,292 --> 00:04:39,917 As a pastor, I, along with the other leaders here, 74 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,417 I get to be at the bedside of people who are dying, 75 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:45,125 and I've been there. 76 00:04:45,167 --> 00:04:49,000 People who knew Jesus and people who didn't, praying with, 77 00:04:49,042 --> 00:04:54,125 pleading with them before it was too late. 78 00:04:54,167 --> 00:04:58,667 When people die, we are invited to speak at their funeral 79 00:04:58,750 --> 00:05:00,417 or at least attend. 80 00:05:00,500 --> 00:05:02,125 And I have been to funerals 81 00:05:02,167 --> 00:05:04,500 and, in the course of my ministry here, 82 00:05:04,583 --> 00:05:08,000 I will officiate and attend a great number of funerals, 83 00:05:08,083 --> 00:05:14,000 and I've already been in that place on numerous occasions. 84 00:05:14,083 --> 00:05:19,667 As a pastor, I'm also there when those really complicated, 85 00:05:19,750 --> 00:05:25,042 heartbreaking decisions have to be made, like family, friend, 86 00:05:27,667 --> 00:05:31,625 coworker, neighbor is on their death bed and they don't, 87 00:05:31,667 --> 00:05:33,917 by any account, know Jesus. 88 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,125 He ultimately decides that. 89 00:05:36,167 --> 00:05:41,792 And they're being kept alive by something like a machine 90 00:05:41,833 --> 00:05:44,917 and someone like me is brought in and the question is asked, 91 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:46,625 "Should we unplug the machine? 92 00:05:46,667 --> 00:05:47,917 "Should we let them die? 93 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,917 And if we do, will they go to hell?" 94 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:58,000 As a pastor, this is my role and I'm honored to have it 95 00:05:58,083 --> 00:06:01,125 and feel the weight of it. 96 00:06:01,167 --> 00:06:04,917 So as I teach you today about heaven and hell, 97 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,333 I do so as your pastor, I do so as your friend, 98 00:06:08,375 --> 00:06:12,917 and I do so trying to tell you the truth, 99 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,333 trying to tell you the truth so I wouldn't be a false teacher 100 00:06:16,375 --> 00:06:18,500 or a false prophet. 101 00:06:18,583 --> 00:06:21,000 And ultimately, it's your responsibility to make 102 00:06:21,042 --> 00:06:24,833 a decision and to not make a decision is to, in effect, 103 00:06:24,875 --> 00:06:28,125 make a tragic decision. 104 00:06:28,167 --> 00:06:31,917 And when it comes to issues of death and what happens 105 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,000 following death, Jesus is going to give us instruction. 106 00:06:36,083 --> 00:06:39,500 And before we read his words, 107 00:06:39,542 --> 00:06:42,125 which are of supreme authority and importance, 108 00:06:42,167 --> 00:06:47,167 I do want to address briefly the options that you have. 109 00:06:47,250 --> 00:06:51,000 Not all of them are faithful, but I want to address them 110 00:06:51,083 --> 00:06:54,333 so that, number one, you'll know I've done my homework, 111 00:06:54,375 --> 00:06:58,000 and number two, if you hold these positions or are inclined 112 00:06:58,042 --> 00:07:02,583 toward them, hopefully I might compel you away from them 113 00:07:02,667 --> 00:07:06,208 because they're not true. 114 00:07:06,292 --> 00:07:10,000 Nonetheless, here are the options regarding the question 115 00:07:10,083 --> 00:07:12,000 of what happens when we die. 116 00:07:12,083 --> 00:07:15,125 Number one, the naturalists will tell you that you do not have 117 00:07:15,167 --> 00:07:18,583 a soul, you are just a body, and when you die, 118 00:07:18,667 --> 00:07:20,333 you cease to exist. 119 00:07:20,375 --> 00:07:23,667 There is no existence of any sort or kind 120 00:07:23,750 --> 00:07:26,000 following your death. 121 00:07:26,083 --> 00:07:30,833 That's not true, but many believe that. 122 00:07:30,875 --> 00:07:35,583 Number two, the universalists teach that, in the end, 123 00:07:35,667 --> 00:07:40,125 everyone or almost everyone goes to heaven, 124 00:07:40,167 --> 00:07:45,333 that hell will be empty or sparsely populated. 125 00:07:45,375 --> 00:07:49,125 Some will say that all religions lead to God 126 00:07:49,167 --> 00:07:52,500 and all paths end in salvation. 127 00:07:52,542 --> 00:07:56,000 That's not true. 128 00:07:56,083 --> 00:08:00,125 Jesus died because he said differently. 129 00:08:00,167 --> 00:08:03,167 Furthermore, there is a “Christian”-- 130 00:08:03,250 --> 00:08:05,917 I use that word very loosely-- 131 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,292 A pseudo-Christian version of this, it's actually a deceptive, 132 00:08:10,333 --> 00:08:15,417 false version of this that comes under the guise of Christianity, 133 00:08:15,500 --> 00:08:18,125 that says there is an opportunity for postmortem 134 00:08:18,167 --> 00:08:21,792 salvation, that after you die, you can meet Jesus 135 00:08:21,833 --> 00:08:24,125 and eventually everyone will be saved because, when we die, 136 00:08:24,167 --> 00:08:27,417 we'll meet Jesus and our hearts will eventually change. 137 00:08:27,500 --> 00:08:30,500 That's not true, as I will show you. 138 00:08:30,542 --> 00:08:32,917 Some of you will be inclined to believe that, 139 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,792 but that's not true. 140 00:08:35,833 --> 00:08:38,917 Number three, the reincarnationists will tell you 141 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,500 that we have multiple, successive lives, 142 00:08:41,583 --> 00:08:44,125 that you will die and return, and die and return, 143 00:08:44,167 --> 00:08:47,792 and die and return, and that you have to pay off your karmic debt 144 00:08:47,833 --> 00:08:50,917 to the god or gods or universe. 145 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,375 That's not true. 146 00:08:54,333 --> 00:08:57,125 That's not true. 147 00:08:57,167 --> 00:09:01,500 I draw a line because then there are three additional options 148 00:09:01,583 --> 00:09:05,417 that fly under the banner of Christianity and the truth is 149 00:09:05,500 --> 00:09:10,625 that the first two are not true, but people who love Jesus 150 00:09:10,667 --> 00:09:14,333 and will be with us in heaven do believe them. 151 00:09:14,375 --> 00:09:17,000 And so I want to distinguish them, 152 00:09:17,042 --> 00:09:20,292 though I also disagree with them. 153 00:09:20,333 --> 00:09:22,792 The fourth would be annihilationism, 154 00:09:22,833 --> 00:09:28,708 which is that when people don't know Jesus and they die, 155 00:09:28,792 --> 00:09:33,625 they simply cease to exist, or they suffer for a while in hell, 156 00:09:33,667 --> 00:09:38,083 and then eventually they cease to exist. 157 00:09:38,167 --> 00:09:41,833 That's not true, but some teach that. 158 00:09:41,875 --> 00:09:44,417 Number five, the Catholics will also teach something called 159 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:48,125 purgatory, which is nowhere to be found in the Bible because 160 00:09:48,167 --> 00:09:53,333 it's not true, but they will teach that people can die 161 00:09:53,375 --> 00:09:59,000 and then suffer for a while as part of the finishing 162 00:09:59,083 --> 00:10:03,125 of their work of salvation so that, ultimately, 163 00:10:03,167 --> 00:10:05,833 they might be in heaven. 164 00:10:05,875 --> 00:10:09,917 That's not true, though some hold it. 165 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,667 The question is, which is the sixth point, 166 00:10:13,750 --> 00:10:16,208 what does the Bible say? 167 00:10:16,292 --> 00:10:19,167 What does the Bible say? 168 00:10:19,250 --> 00:10:21,917 Not what do all the scholars and the critics 169 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,333 and the interpretations and the perspectives say. 170 00:10:24,375 --> 00:10:27,125 Those things are important and can be helpful, 171 00:10:27,167 --> 00:10:30,417 but what does the Scripture say? 172 00:10:30,500 --> 00:10:34,125 And so with that in mind, in just a moment we're going to 173 00:10:34,167 --> 00:10:38,917 read the words of Jesus Christ, the most loving, humble, 174 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,292 helpful servant who has ever lived in the history 175 00:10:43,333 --> 00:10:45,500 of the world. 176 00:10:45,583 --> 00:10:49,500 Furthermore, it is Jesus who speaks of hell more than anyone 177 00:10:49,583 --> 00:10:52,000 in the whole Bible. 178 00:10:52,042 --> 00:10:57,792 Jesus speaks of hell roughly 13% of the time in his teaching. 179 00:10:57,833 --> 00:11:02,500 He speaks of hell, judgment, punishment, and the like. 180 00:11:02,542 --> 00:11:06,792 Roughly half of his parables are in reference to punishment, 181 00:11:06,833 --> 00:11:09,917 hell, and judgment. 182 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,917 We, in the providence of God, as a debate around this issue 183 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,917 rages within Christianity, we arrive at Jesus' words 184 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,708 on this very important issue. 185 00:11:23,792 --> 00:11:28,625 And some would say Jesus is so loving, 186 00:11:28,667 --> 00:11:31,708 certainly Jesus doesn't believe in hell. 187 00:11:31,792 --> 00:11:36,583 And I would say the most loving person who has ever lived 188 00:11:36,667 --> 00:11:40,083 not only believes in hell, but clearly, emphatically, 189 00:11:40,167 --> 00:11:46,833 repeatedly teaches on it, which must mean that our sin 190 00:11:46,875 --> 00:11:50,833 is more damnable than we could fathom 191 00:11:50,875 --> 00:11:53,667 if it requires the most loving person 192 00:11:53,750 --> 00:11:58,333 to speak in the most stark of terms. 193 00:12:00,375 --> 00:12:06,125 The existence of hell, the instruction by Jesus of hell, 194 00:12:06,167 --> 00:12:11,208 should reveal to us how sinful sin truly is 195 00:12:11,292 --> 00:12:15,042 and how rebellious we really are. 196 00:12:17,292 --> 00:12:22,292 So we're going to read the words of Jesus together 197 00:12:22,333 --> 00:12:29,083 in Luke 16:19-31. 198 00:12:29,167 --> 00:12:35,125 And as you're finding that place in your Bible or on your app, 199 00:12:35,167 --> 00:12:39,708 I do want to show you what the Bible says about the fact 200 00:12:39,792 --> 00:12:45,083 that we are two parts: body and soul. 201 00:12:45,167 --> 00:12:47,500 2 Corinthians 5:8, the Apostle Paul 202 00:12:47,583 --> 00:12:50,333 says to Christians, "We would rather be away from 203 00:12:50,375 --> 00:12:53,792 the body and at home with the Lord." 204 00:12:53,833 --> 00:12:55,917 That is in reference to believers. 205 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:00,583 You and I, as image bearers of God, are two parts. 206 00:13:00,667 --> 00:13:05,833 We are a physical body and a spiritual soul. 207 00:13:05,875 --> 00:13:12,250 Death is the result of sin and our physical body upon death 208 00:13:14,167 --> 00:13:18,125 ceases to function, goes into the ground, and is buried. 209 00:13:18,167 --> 00:13:23,833 But our spiritual soul continues to live beyond death. 210 00:13:23,875 --> 00:13:28,917 For the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present 211 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,000 with the Lord in spirit. 212 00:13:32,042 --> 00:13:36,917 And so, because we are all sinners, we all die. 213 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,417 When we die, we die physically and we continue to exist 214 00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:48,125 spiritually until the soul is rejoined with the body 215 00:13:48,167 --> 00:13:51,000 upon the resurrection of the dead. 216 00:13:51,083 --> 00:13:54,833 And then we rise from death, believer and unbeliever, 217 00:13:54,875 --> 00:13:58,625 to live forever, either in blessing or cursing, 218 00:13:58,667 --> 00:14:04,125 heaven or hell, and we rise as Jesus rose, 219 00:14:04,167 --> 00:14:07,125 what we celebrate on Easter. 220 00:14:07,167 --> 00:14:10,917 And so when Jesus teaches of heaven and hell, 221 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:16,292 he teaches as God, he teaches as the only one who has conquered 222 00:14:16,333 --> 00:14:19,917 death and risen from death. 223 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:25,000 He alone has the most intimate knowledge of death 224 00:14:25,042 --> 00:14:28,000 and what awaits us on the other side. 225 00:14:28,083 --> 00:14:35,000 And these are his words in Luke 16:19-31. 226 00:14:37,292 --> 00:14:41,000 He tells us a parable, a story. 227 00:14:41,083 --> 00:14:44,417 "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple 228 00:14:44,500 --> 00:14:50,500 "and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 229 00:14:50,583 --> 00:14:54,000 "And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus," 230 00:14:54,042 --> 00:14:57,917 which means God comforts, "covered with sores, 231 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:02,083 "who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. 232 00:15:02,167 --> 00:15:07,125 "Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 233 00:15:07,167 --> 00:15:12,125 "The poor man died and was carried by the angels 234 00:15:12,167 --> 00:15:14,417 "to Abraham's side. 235 00:15:14,500 --> 00:15:18,583 The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades," 236 00:15:18,667 --> 00:15:24,167 I want you to make note of these words, "being in torment." 237 00:15:25,833 --> 00:15:30,167 Jesus uses the word "torment." 238 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,125 "He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off 239 00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:36,667 "and Lazarus at his side. 240 00:15:36,750 --> 00:15:38,333 "And he called out, 'Father Abraham, 241 00:15:38,375 --> 00:15:41,083 "'have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip 242 00:15:41,167 --> 00:15:44,000 "'the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, 243 00:15:44,083 --> 00:15:49,125 for I am in anguish,'" another noteworthy word, 244 00:15:49,167 --> 00:15:52,292 "'in this flame.' 245 00:15:52,333 --> 00:15:55,500 "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you 246 00:15:55,542 --> 00:15:58,125 "'in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus 247 00:15:58,167 --> 00:16:00,208 "'in like manner bad things; 248 00:16:00,292 --> 00:16:04,333 but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.'" 249 00:16:04,375 --> 00:16:07,000 Another noteworthy word. 250 00:16:07,042 --> 00:16:10,500 "'And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm 251 00:16:10,542 --> 00:16:13,917 "'has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here 252 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,917 "'to you may not be able, 253 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,583 "and none may cross from there to us.' 254 00:16:18,667 --> 00:16:21,917 "And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him 255 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,917 "'to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- 256 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,833 "'so that he may warn them, lest they also come 257 00:16:27,875 --> 00:16:30,917 into this place of torment.'" 258 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,167 There is the word again. 259 00:16:33,250 --> 00:16:36,417 "But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; 260 00:16:36,500 --> 00:16:38,917 "let them hear them.' 261 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,792 "And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but 262 00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:44,125 "if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 263 00:16:44,167 --> 00:16:47,792 "He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, 264 00:16:47,833 --> 00:16:50,500 "'neither will they be convinced if someone should rise 265 00:16:50,542 --> 00:16:53,542 from the dead.'" 266 00:16:55,333 --> 00:16:58,625 Jesus tells the story of the life, death, 267 00:16:58,667 --> 00:17:05,792 and eternal life of two men in what is unusual because 268 00:17:05,833 --> 00:17:09,417 participants in parables are usually not named. 269 00:17:09,500 --> 00:17:14,917 This story includes the name of a man named Lazarus, 270 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:20,208 and his life is told in the starkest of terms. 271 00:17:20,292 --> 00:17:24,000 He was impoverished. 272 00:17:24,083 --> 00:17:26,500 He was crippled. 273 00:17:26,583 --> 00:17:30,792 He had open sores on his body that the dogs would come 274 00:17:30,833 --> 00:17:35,583 and lick, that he was a believer in God. 275 00:17:38,167 --> 00:17:39,917 The religious leaders in that day, 276 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,208 based upon the sections of Luke that we have been investigating 277 00:17:43,292 --> 00:17:46,500 previously, would have considered him cursed of God, 278 00:17:46,542 --> 00:17:49,625 not blessed of God, because their erroneous belief 279 00:17:49,667 --> 00:17:53,500 was that if you loved God and God loved you, 280 00:17:53,583 --> 00:17:55,917 then you would be healthy and wealthy. 281 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,792 And he was neither. 282 00:18:01,375 --> 00:18:07,208 He positioned himself outside of the gate of a very wealthy man 283 00:18:07,292 --> 00:18:10,667 who lived on an estate. 284 00:18:10,750 --> 00:18:14,667 The Bible says that he ate gourmet meals every day, 285 00:18:14,750 --> 00:18:17,625 that he lived in comfort and luxury, 286 00:18:17,667 --> 00:18:20,125 that he was healthy and wealthy. 287 00:18:20,167 --> 00:18:24,083 The Bible also tells us that he wore purple clothing, 288 00:18:24,167 --> 00:18:28,292 which is the most expensive of dye in that day. 289 00:18:28,333 --> 00:18:32,000 When I was touring and traveling that region, 290 00:18:32,083 --> 00:18:35,083 we learned that there are some very small snails 291 00:18:35,167 --> 00:18:37,083 that have a very small shell. 292 00:18:37,167 --> 00:18:40,667 And the way you get purple is you have to take a large number 293 00:18:40,750 --> 00:18:43,125 of those snail shells, you have to crush them up 294 00:18:43,167 --> 00:18:44,917 and turn them into dye. 295 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,083 It's a very lengthy, complicated, difficult process. 296 00:18:49,167 --> 00:18:52,083 So purple was the color of royalty. 297 00:18:52,167 --> 00:18:55,500 If you wore purple, it was a way of declaring to the world, 298 00:18:55,542 --> 00:18:59,708 "I am very wealthy." 299 00:18:59,792 --> 00:19:04,833 And this poor man, Lazarus, positioned himself 300 00:19:04,875 --> 00:19:07,625 outside of the gate of this rich man. 301 00:19:07,667 --> 00:19:09,917 And the rich man had much food. 302 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,917 And the dream of the poor man was that perhaps someday, 303 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,833 when the food fell off of the table, the food that he dropped, 304 00:19:19,875 --> 00:19:22,625 rather than feeding it to his dogs, 305 00:19:22,667 --> 00:19:26,125 that perhaps the servants would bring it out and feed it to him 306 00:19:26,167 --> 00:19:31,083 because, for him, that would be a feast, food from the floor. 307 00:19:32,333 --> 00:19:36,625 You get the picture that outside of this gate is this poor man 308 00:19:36,667 --> 00:19:38,625 with the rich man walking by him, 309 00:19:38,667 --> 00:19:43,917 perhaps even stepping over him, to go about his business, 310 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:49,000 ignoring him, one who is supposed to be, or allegedly, 311 00:19:49,083 --> 00:19:52,000 a brother in faith, worshiping the same God. 312 00:19:52,042 --> 00:19:57,167 That's what the rich man would have assumed and presumed. 313 00:19:59,083 --> 00:20:01,917 And the poor man dies. 314 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,917 We can infer that he was thrown in a common grave for peasants, 315 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:13,083 unmarked, not a noteworthy funeral, ignored and abandoned. 316 00:20:13,167 --> 00:20:17,917 And the Bible says that then his body went into the ground, 317 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,917 his crippled, broken body, and his believing soul 318 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,125 went to be with the Lord. 319 00:20:25,167 --> 00:20:29,792 In many ways, this parable is simply an illustration 320 00:20:29,833 --> 00:20:32,500 of 2 Corinthians 5:8. 321 00:20:32,542 --> 00:20:35,625 His body is in the ground. 322 00:20:35,667 --> 00:20:40,417 His soul is in a place of blessing. 323 00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:42,125 He's at the side of Abraham, 324 00:20:42,167 --> 00:20:44,500 the father of faith and the faithful. 325 00:20:44,542 --> 00:20:46,500 He's with all the saints. 326 00:20:46,542 --> 00:20:48,667 He's not suffering. 327 00:20:48,750 --> 00:20:52,625 He's not hungry. 328 00:20:52,667 --> 00:20:56,125 He's blessed. 329 00:20:56,167 --> 00:20:58,500 He's loved of God. 330 00:20:58,542 --> 00:21:00,583 He's graced of God. 331 00:21:00,667 --> 00:21:03,208 And he's happy. 332 00:21:03,292 --> 00:21:08,167 And he peers through what Jesus calls a chasm. 333 00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:11,917 Maybe it's a window. 334 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,208 We do not know. 335 00:21:14,292 --> 00:21:21,292 And on the other side, he sees a man whom he knew on this earth, 336 00:21:21,333 --> 00:21:23,500 the rich man. 337 00:21:23,542 --> 00:21:27,708 Now, this man assumed during his earthly life that he was chosen 338 00:21:27,792 --> 00:21:29,708 and blessed and favored of God 339 00:21:29,792 --> 00:21:32,125 because he was healthy and wealthy. 340 00:21:32,167 --> 00:21:35,125 Upon his death, a large funeral was likely thrown 341 00:21:35,167 --> 00:21:38,417 and a significant grave was set aside 342 00:21:38,500 --> 00:21:42,000 and a large headstone lived in tribute to him 343 00:21:42,083 --> 00:21:45,000 and his death was a noteworthy occasion. 344 00:21:45,083 --> 00:21:48,167 And everyone assumed, “He will most assuredly be 345 00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:50,917 in the presence of God.” 346 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,083 And lo and behold, that was not the case. 347 00:21:54,167 --> 00:21:57,042 He died and went to hell. 348 00:21:58,667 --> 00:22:02,125 And he says that he is in anguish. 349 00:22:02,167 --> 00:22:05,833 He says that he is in torment. 350 00:22:05,875 --> 00:22:10,000 He says that it is like being trapped in a burning building 351 00:22:10,042 --> 00:22:15,125 forever and that he is experiencing conscious, 352 00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:19,750 eternal torment by flame. 353 00:22:21,250 --> 00:22:23,917 Jesus is here giving us hell 354 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:29,292 in the most graphic description and depiction. 355 00:22:29,333 --> 00:22:32,167 Jesus says this. 356 00:22:33,875 --> 00:22:36,917 Jesus says this. 357 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,917 You can't say, "Hell is not loving, hell is not kind. 358 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,333 The God of the Bible is loving and kind." 359 00:22:42,375 --> 00:22:46,083 Jesus says this. 360 00:22:54,667 --> 00:23:00,125 And the poor man gazes through the chasm and he sees 361 00:23:00,167 --> 00:23:02,917 the rich man suffering. 362 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:09,125 And friends, this is the fate of every man and woman who has 363 00:23:09,167 --> 00:23:11,792 or will ever live: 364 00:23:11,833 --> 00:23:17,875 Death, and heaven for blessing, or hell for suffering. 365 00:23:19,542 --> 00:23:21,500 Those are the options. 366 00:23:21,583 --> 00:23:23,500 Those alone are the options. 367 00:23:23,583 --> 00:23:25,625 My job is to tell you the truth. 368 00:23:25,667 --> 00:23:29,167 Your job is to make a decision. 369 00:23:31,792 --> 00:23:35,083 And he wants a gift. 370 00:23:35,167 --> 00:23:39,792 "Please, Lazarus, dip your finger in the water. 371 00:23:39,833 --> 00:23:43,417 "Just put a drop on my tongue. 372 00:23:43,500 --> 00:23:48,625 I desperately long for relief." 373 00:23:48,667 --> 00:23:54,667 And he is told, "This chasm is an eternal separation 374 00:23:54,750 --> 00:23:56,917 and there is no exception." 375 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:02,500 Those who are in heaven cannot even visit hell. 376 00:24:02,542 --> 00:24:07,833 Those who are in hell cannot visit heaven. 377 00:24:07,875 --> 00:24:13,333 Your eternal destiny and fate is sealed upon your death. 378 00:24:13,375 --> 00:24:18,417 This life is your only opportunity. 379 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:20,500 You have a decision to make. 380 00:24:21,750 --> 00:24:25,042 You have a decision to make. 381 00:24:29,542 --> 00:24:35,375 Hell is the wrath of God in effect. 382 00:24:37,167 --> 00:24:42,167 Some of you foolishly will posit God's attributes 383 00:24:42,250 --> 00:24:45,000 against one another. 384 00:24:45,083 --> 00:24:49,083 The Bible speaks of many of God's attributes 385 00:24:49,167 --> 00:24:52,917 and he holds them all perfectly and consistently. 386 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,583 And what we like to do is find an attribute of God 387 00:24:56,667 --> 00:25:01,417 and elevate it above all other attributes of God. 388 00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:04,917 When it comes to the issue of hell, 389 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:11,000 some will take love and make it not an attribute of God, 390 00:25:11,042 --> 00:25:12,917 but the attribute of God. 391 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,833 And the Bible does say that God is love, but friends, 392 00:25:15,875 --> 00:25:18,167 love is not God. 393 00:25:18,250 --> 00:25:21,917 God is love, and whatever God does is loving. 394 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,833 God is also just. 395 00:25:23,875 --> 00:25:25,333 God is also holy. 396 00:25:25,375 --> 00:25:31,000 Our God is also simultaneously, perfectly a God of wrath. 397 00:25:31,042 --> 00:25:35,000 Not just our God, but the only God. 398 00:25:35,042 --> 00:25:38,000 The Bible does speak of the love of God, 399 00:25:38,042 --> 00:25:41,000 but the most frequently quoted, mentioned, 400 00:25:41,083 --> 00:25:44,083 referred to attribute of God in the whole Bible 401 00:25:44,167 --> 00:25:48,792 is not the love of God, it is the holiness of God. 402 00:25:48,833 --> 00:25:52,917 Furthermore, the wrath of God is mentioned in the Bible 403 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,875 more than 600 times. 404 00:25:59,042 --> 00:26:01,000 God is holy. 405 00:26:01,083 --> 00:26:05,625 If we do not repent, we are in the path of his wrath. 406 00:26:05,667 --> 00:26:12,000 And in love he sent Jesus as our substitute to go to the cross 407 00:26:12,042 --> 00:26:16,000 in our place, for our sins, to taste our death, 408 00:26:16,083 --> 00:26:20,125 and give us eternal life, 409 00:26:20,167 --> 00:26:23,500 which means if you do not trust in Jesus, 410 00:26:23,583 --> 00:26:26,125 if you do not come to Jesus, 411 00:26:26,167 --> 00:26:30,000 if you do not believe in and belong to Jesus, 412 00:26:30,042 --> 00:26:34,500 you are in the path of the wrath of God 413 00:26:34,583 --> 00:26:40,625 that ultimately culminates in the conscious, 414 00:26:40,667 --> 00:26:44,917 eternal torment of hell. 415 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,917 Jesus here shows us it is conscious. 416 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,000 This man is aware of it. 417 00:26:51,083 --> 00:26:52,833 It is eternal. 418 00:26:52,875 --> 00:26:55,000 There is no ending. 419 00:26:55,042 --> 00:26:57,083 It is torment. 420 00:26:57,167 --> 00:27:02,292 He uses the language of torment, anguish, and flame. 421 00:27:02,333 --> 00:27:05,833 Some of you are under the wrath of God. 422 00:27:05,875 --> 00:27:10,000 Some of you are ignoring the fact that you are in the path 423 00:27:10,083 --> 00:27:11,917 of the wrath of God. 424 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,125 Some of you presume daily upon the grace of God, 425 00:27:16,167 --> 00:27:22,000 as this man did, assuming, presuming wrongly that, 426 00:27:22,083 --> 00:27:24,917 because you are healthy and wealthy, 427 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,333 it is because of God's blessing. 428 00:27:27,375 --> 00:27:30,083 It may not be. For you, 429 00:27:30,167 --> 00:27:34,083 this may be the closest to heaven that you get 430 00:27:34,167 --> 00:27:37,333 and hell awaits you. 431 00:27:37,375 --> 00:27:42,000 For others, this is as close to hell as they will ever be 432 00:27:42,083 --> 00:27:45,000 and heaven awaits them. 433 00:27:45,083 --> 00:27:47,917 This man died apart from faith 434 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,833 and he experienced the wrath of God. 435 00:27:55,167 --> 00:27:59,333 My job is to tell you the truth. 436 00:27:59,375 --> 00:28:03,083 You can find people who disagree with me. 437 00:28:03,167 --> 00:28:07,125 You can find multimillion-dollar best-selling authors 438 00:28:07,167 --> 00:28:10,208 who disagree. 439 00:28:10,292 --> 00:28:13,833 You can find scholars and footnotes and debates 440 00:28:13,875 --> 00:28:19,208 and arguments, but I'm telling you the truth. 441 00:28:19,292 --> 00:28:24,042 Not because it is popular, not because it is profitable. 442 00:28:26,167 --> 00:28:31,083 And it's not that I am right, but it is that the Bible is true 443 00:28:31,167 --> 00:28:35,667 and that Jesus is not a liar. 444 00:28:35,750 --> 00:28:38,625 And I love you. 445 00:28:38,667 --> 00:28:41,500 And if I don't tell you the truth, 446 00:28:41,583 --> 00:28:44,167 your blood is on my hands. 447 00:28:46,875 --> 00:28:51,667 Here's what the Bible has to say, John 3:36. 448 00:28:51,750 --> 00:28:54,333 Here are the options, friends. 449 00:28:54,375 --> 00:28:57,833 "Whoever believes in the Son," that is Jesus Christ, 450 00:28:57,875 --> 00:29:00,333 the Son of God, “has,” what? 451 00:29:00,375 --> 00:29:05,917 "Eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, 452 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,500 but the," what, “of God remains on him”? 453 00:29:09,583 --> 00:29:12,333 "The wrath of God." 454 00:29:12,375 --> 00:29:17,125 Heaven and hell are not ultimately the issues. 455 00:29:17,167 --> 00:29:19,792 Jesus Christ is the issue. 456 00:29:19,833 --> 00:29:25,125 Heaven and hell are the implications of the issue. 457 00:29:25,167 --> 00:29:29,000 Don't overlook Jesus to start arguing over heaven and hell. 458 00:29:29,042 --> 00:29:33,792 First, ask yourself, 459 00:29:33,833 --> 00:29:37,000 have I believed in Jesus as God and savior? 460 00:29:37,042 --> 00:29:40,708 Have I received Jesus as God and savior? 461 00:29:40,792 --> 00:29:46,500 If so, then eternal life, 462 00:29:46,583 --> 00:29:49,917 like Lazarus experienced, 463 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,708 is what God sets before me. 464 00:29:52,792 --> 00:29:58,042 If not, then the wrath of God remains on me. 465 00:30:00,167 --> 00:30:04,500 Those are the options: eternal life, eternal death; 466 00:30:04,583 --> 00:30:10,125 heaven, hell; blessing, suffering; 467 00:30:10,167 --> 00:30:12,708 grace, wrath. 468 00:30:12,792 --> 00:30:14,708 Those are the options. 469 00:30:14,792 --> 00:30:20,250 There are no exceptions and you are not an exception. 470 00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:28,625 In telling you this, I know that many of you 471 00:30:28,667 --> 00:30:32,333 will have many questions. 472 00:30:32,375 --> 00:30:37,625 And as a pastor, it is my responsibility 473 00:30:37,667 --> 00:30:43,208 and my honor to answer them. 474 00:30:43,292 --> 00:30:47,375 Some of you have questions; some of you have objections. 475 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,583 I wrote a book called "Doctrine" with a dear friend, 476 00:30:54,667 --> 00:30:56,833 trying to answer a lot of the big questions 477 00:30:56,875 --> 00:30:58,500 about Christianity. 478 00:30:58,583 --> 00:31:01,125 The whole last chapter deals with all of these issues. 479 00:31:01,167 --> 00:31:03,625 I worked really hard on that book. 480 00:31:03,667 --> 00:31:05,292 There are 1,000 footnotes. 481 00:31:05,333 --> 00:31:09,917 It gave me literally an intestinal ulcer. 482 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,417 When the Bible says to labor in preaching and teaching, 483 00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:18,083 I'm trying to do that 'cause I love you and I'm trying to do 484 00:31:18,167 --> 00:31:20,833 the best I can for you. 485 00:31:20,875 --> 00:31:24,917 Additionally, this week on theresurgence.com, 486 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:29,292 we put out a blog that is a summary section of that chapter 487 00:31:29,333 --> 00:31:33,000 in that book, and it's simply titled "To Hell with Hell." 488 00:31:33,042 --> 00:31:36,292 There are some more questions that may be answered 489 00:31:36,333 --> 00:31:39,542 for you there. 490 00:31:42,083 --> 00:31:44,000 So we also asked on The City, 491 00:31:44,083 --> 00:31:46,792 which is our online social networking tool 492 00:31:46,833 --> 00:31:48,833 for those who are in Mars Hill, 493 00:31:48,875 --> 00:31:52,792 what questions do you have about hell? 494 00:31:52,833 --> 00:31:55,500 And in less than 24 hours, 495 00:31:55,583 --> 00:31:58,667 I believe, we got hundreds of questions. 496 00:31:58,750 --> 00:32:02,417 And so we took six of the more common and popular questions, 497 00:32:02,500 --> 00:32:06,083 and I'm gonna seek to answer those in succession for you 498 00:32:06,167 --> 00:32:10,500 because, as I said, it is my job to tell the truth, 499 00:32:10,583 --> 00:32:13,125 it is your job to make a decision. 500 00:32:13,167 --> 00:32:16,500 And I want to help you make that decision and I want to, 501 00:32:16,583 --> 00:32:21,375 in as much as I'm able, remove certain objections. 502 00:32:24,042 --> 00:32:26,917 Question number one: 503 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,000 "What is hell? 504 00:32:29,042 --> 00:32:31,333 What is hell like?" 505 00:32:31,375 --> 00:32:36,000 Elizabeth from our Olympia campus asks. 506 00:32:36,042 --> 00:32:41,667 When speaking of hell, Jesus, again, 507 00:32:41,750 --> 00:32:45,917 who speaks of hell more than anyone in the Bible, 508 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:53,125 he uses as an illustration a place called Gehenna. 509 00:32:53,167 --> 00:32:56,625 He does this repeatedly in the Bible. 510 00:32:56,667 --> 00:33:01,000 Gehenna was a place outside of the city where children 511 00:33:01,083 --> 00:33:06,500 were murdered, child sacrifice to false demon gods. 512 00:33:06,583 --> 00:33:10,125 False gods were worshiped there. 513 00:33:10,167 --> 00:33:13,917 It became a deplorable, despicable, 514 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:18,083 damnable place to the people of God. 515 00:33:18,167 --> 00:33:23,125 Subsequently, they chose that place to be their dump, 516 00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:30,625 so garbage and refuse and feces and dead bodies 517 00:33:30,667 --> 00:33:34,333 would be thrown into that dump outside of the city 518 00:33:34,375 --> 00:33:38,167 in this damnable, cursed place. 519 00:33:40,500 --> 00:33:44,167 As a result, it was a place where the worms were always 520 00:33:44,250 --> 00:33:49,875 feasting and the flame was always burning. 521 00:33:52,667 --> 00:33:57,000 And Jesus says that hell is like Gehenna. 522 00:34:00,083 --> 00:34:06,000 He goes back to Isaiah 66, and on more than one occasion 523 00:34:06,083 --> 00:34:07,792 he quotes it. 524 00:34:07,833 --> 00:34:10,125 Some will tell you the Bible doesn't talk about hell 525 00:34:10,167 --> 00:34:11,625 in the Old Testament. 526 00:34:11,667 --> 00:34:12,917 It does. 527 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,333 It talks a lot about the wrath of God and consequence of sin. 528 00:34:16,375 --> 00:34:20,167 And it speaks particularly about hell in Daniel 12:2 529 00:34:20,250 --> 00:34:23,917 and in the closing lines of Isaiah 66. 530 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,125 And Jesus, being a truth-telling Bible teacher, 531 00:34:28,167 --> 00:34:32,833 he picks up Isaiah 66 and he repeatedly quotes it, 532 00:34:32,875 --> 00:34:38,792 saying of hell, he does this in Mark 9:47-48, speaking of hell, 533 00:34:38,833 --> 00:34:44,500 "Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." 534 00:34:46,542 --> 00:34:49,708 In hell, people suffer forever. 535 00:34:49,792 --> 00:34:54,125 In hell, the flame burns forever. 536 00:34:54,167 --> 00:34:58,792 It is a damnable, wretched, cursed place. 537 00:35:03,500 --> 00:35:09,000 And people are there and some of you are going there. 538 00:35:12,167 --> 00:35:15,167 And I tell you as one who has unbelieving relatives 539 00:35:15,250 --> 00:35:18,000 that have died. 540 00:35:18,042 --> 00:35:19,500 I'm not God. 541 00:35:19,542 --> 00:35:22,583 I don't determine who goes to heaven and hell. 542 00:35:22,667 --> 00:35:25,917 But I know many who have died without faith in Christ. 543 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:30,417 As a pastor, I have this wonderful privilege of pastoring 544 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:35,000 10,000 of our people and speaking to millions more, 545 00:35:35,083 --> 00:35:39,917 which means I get to see many saved and many lives changed, 546 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:47,000 and I also get to see many die who die in unbelief, 547 00:35:50,042 --> 00:35:54,583 friends of mine, people I know and love, people I grew up with, 548 00:35:54,667 --> 00:35:57,917 people that I have prayed for and pleaded with 549 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:01,917 and counseled and pursued. 550 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:07,625 And there are people in hell and there will be people in hell 551 00:36:07,667 --> 00:36:13,083 that I know and love. 552 00:36:13,167 --> 00:36:16,667 And some of you are those people, 553 00:36:16,750 --> 00:36:21,167 apart from making a decision to trust in Christ. 554 00:36:25,167 --> 00:36:27,167 Hell is real. 555 00:36:27,250 --> 00:36:30,583 People are there. 556 00:36:30,667 --> 00:36:35,083 You're still alive, and so I'm pleading with you. 557 00:36:35,167 --> 00:36:37,917 My job is to tell the truth. 558 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,167 Your job is to make a decision. 559 00:36:41,250 --> 00:36:46,750 And Jesus has made it abundantly clear what is at stake. 560 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,333 Question number two: 561 00:36:53,375 --> 00:36:56,917 "Is it possible that people can deny God for their whole 562 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:00,833 earthly lives, and have a second chance after death?" 563 00:37:00,875 --> 00:37:03,083 Mara from Ballard asks. 564 00:37:03,167 --> 00:37:06,000 No. 565 00:37:06,083 --> 00:37:08,417 Let me be clear. 566 00:37:08,500 --> 00:37:11,167 No. 567 00:37:11,250 --> 00:37:16,833 Back to the story that Jesus tells, two men die. 568 00:37:16,875 --> 00:37:19,708 Affixed between them is a what? 569 00:37:19,792 --> 00:37:22,333 A chasm. 570 00:37:22,375 --> 00:37:28,167 And there is no relocation or visitation from one side. 571 00:37:28,250 --> 00:37:31,125 Heaven and hell, blessing and cursing, 572 00:37:31,167 --> 00:37:38,167 there is no chance of changing one's eternal destination. 573 00:37:39,792 --> 00:37:42,833 You die, you're judged, sentenced, 574 00:37:42,875 --> 00:37:48,417 and that is where you will be forever and ever. 575 00:37:48,500 --> 00:37:51,917 In this story, the man, the rich man, 576 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,000 he would have loved to have crossed that chasm. 577 00:37:55,083 --> 00:38:00,250 He would have loved to exit suffering and enter blessing. 578 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:08,000 And Jesus, loving, humble, gracious, kind, merciful 579 00:38:08,042 --> 00:38:15,208 Jesus says there is no passing from one side of the chasm 580 00:38:15,292 --> 00:38:19,833 to the other between hell and heaven. 581 00:38:19,875 --> 00:38:22,042 There is none. 582 00:38:25,167 --> 00:38:29,792 Furthermore, there is no opportunity of what we will call 583 00:38:29,833 --> 00:38:32,083 postmortem repentance, 584 00:38:32,167 --> 00:38:35,417 where you die, hang out with Jesus long enough that, eventually, 585 00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:37,708 you choose him. 586 00:38:37,792 --> 00:38:40,000 There is no reincarnation 587 00:38:40,083 --> 00:38:43,833 (if at first you do not succeed, try, try again). 588 00:38:43,875 --> 00:38:51,500 Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed once to die, and then judgment." 589 00:38:51,583 --> 00:38:54,667 That is all. 590 00:38:54,750 --> 00:39:00,625 Do not just speculate about those who have died. 591 00:39:00,667 --> 00:39:04,792 Make your decision while you are still alive. 592 00:39:07,042 --> 00:39:10,500 Question number three: 593 00:39:10,542 --> 00:39:13,125 "Why would God make people who will permanently 594 00:39:13,167 --> 00:39:15,333 "remain his enemies? 595 00:39:15,375 --> 00:39:18,125 "Why does God create certain people when he knows that 596 00:39:18,167 --> 00:39:22,125 their only future is to be tortured for all eternity?" 597 00:39:22,167 --> 00:39:23,917 asks someone who remains to be anonymous 598 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:28,000 from the University District campus of Mars Hill. 599 00:39:28,042 --> 00:39:30,000 There is much to be said here. 600 00:39:30,083 --> 00:39:36,625 First of all, people go to hell because they reject Jesus. 601 00:39:36,667 --> 00:39:40,000 They reject the general revelation that God 602 00:39:40,042 --> 00:39:42,083 gives to all humanity. 603 00:39:42,167 --> 00:39:45,833 They reject the common grace that God bestows upon them. 604 00:39:45,875 --> 00:39:49,500 Furthermore, they have to reject their conscience that God 605 00:39:49,542 --> 00:39:53,833 has placed within them as well as any special revelation 606 00:39:53,875 --> 00:39:56,125 that he has brought to them. 607 00:39:56,167 --> 00:40:01,000 We are in no way innocent. 608 00:40:01,042 --> 00:40:05,208 We are not. 609 00:40:05,292 --> 00:40:08,833 Additionally, when God was finished with his work 610 00:40:08,875 --> 00:40:12,708 in Genesis 1:31, making the earth and our first parents, 611 00:40:12,792 --> 00:40:17,125 giving us life, breath, and creation as a gift, 612 00:40:17,167 --> 00:40:20,208 he declared it all to be very good. 613 00:40:20,292 --> 00:40:23,000 There was no sin, there was no suffering, 614 00:40:23,042 --> 00:40:27,167 there was no sickness, there was no death. 615 00:40:30,167 --> 00:40:32,417 We sinned. 616 00:40:32,500 --> 00:40:34,917 We rebelled. 617 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:38,125 We declared war. 618 00:40:38,167 --> 00:40:42,583 We ruined everything. 619 00:40:42,667 --> 00:40:44,833 It is our fault, friends. 620 00:40:44,875 --> 00:40:48,708 It is my fault, it is your fault, it is our fault. 621 00:40:48,792 --> 00:40:52,000 This is not the world as God made it. 622 00:40:52,083 --> 00:40:56,000 This is the world as we have corrupted it. 623 00:40:58,500 --> 00:41:05,417 Additionally, it makes perfect sense to me 624 00:41:05,500 --> 00:41:10,167 that a convicted criminal goes to prison. 625 00:41:10,250 --> 00:41:12,625 That makes perfect sense. 626 00:41:12,667 --> 00:41:16,000 Similarly, it makes perfect sense that a condemned sinner 627 00:41:16,083 --> 00:41:17,667 goes to hell. 628 00:41:17,750 --> 00:41:19,917 That makes sense. 629 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:28,375 What is astonishing is that God would become a man 630 00:41:30,167 --> 00:41:36,000 to live in the world as we have destroyed it, 631 00:41:36,083 --> 00:41:40,125 that God would endure poverty, that God would endure humility 632 00:41:40,167 --> 00:41:45,792 and humiliation, that God would endure opposition and betrayal, 633 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:53,125 that God himself would be arrested and falsely accused 634 00:41:53,167 --> 00:42:01,000 and beaten and crucified, which is the most shameful 635 00:42:01,083 --> 00:42:07,292 and wretched and painful of deaths, and that he would 636 00:42:07,333 --> 00:42:11,417 cry out, "Forgive them!" 637 00:42:11,500 --> 00:42:15,000 and that he would die in our place, for our sins, 638 00:42:15,042 --> 00:42:19,125 as our substitute, and that he would taste the hell 639 00:42:19,167 --> 00:42:21,208 that we deserve. 640 00:42:21,292 --> 00:42:26,333 And Jesus states this when he cries out from the cross, 641 00:42:26,375 --> 00:42:31,417 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 642 00:42:31,500 --> 00:42:36,125 That the Father turned his back on the Son and that the wrath of 643 00:42:36,167 --> 00:42:41,333 God was poured out on Jesus so that it might be propitiated, 644 00:42:41,375 --> 00:42:45,000 or diverted, from us. 645 00:42:45,042 --> 00:42:48,917 He experiences what the rich man experienced 646 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,917 that we might experience what the poor man experiences. 647 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:54,625 That is a miracle. 648 00:42:54,667 --> 00:42:56,417 That is the great exchange. 649 00:42:56,500 --> 00:42:59,417 That is the gift of salvation. 650 00:42:59,500 --> 00:43:03,000 That is the love of God. 651 00:43:04,875 --> 00:43:11,667 Additionally, I would beg you not to judge God. 652 00:43:15,167 --> 00:43:18,917 Do not judge God. 653 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,125 We have 3-pound fallen brains. 654 00:43:22,167 --> 00:43:27,125 We have sinful dispositions and inclinations. 655 00:43:27,167 --> 00:43:31,667 We have only been around for a few short years. 656 00:43:31,750 --> 00:43:36,000 We are not all-seeing, we are not all-knowing. 657 00:43:36,042 --> 00:43:41,083 And for us to sit on a throne, even if it is an academic throne 658 00:43:41,167 --> 00:43:46,917 propped up by footnotes, asking the creator of heaven and earth 659 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:51,125 to pass before us that we might render a verdict regarding his 660 00:43:51,167 --> 00:43:55,000 holiness and justice is how all the trouble 661 00:43:55,083 --> 00:43:59,083 began in the first place, 662 00:43:59,167 --> 00:44:03,000 that Satan came to our first parents, 663 00:44:03,083 --> 00:44:08,208 asking a few questions about the character of God, 664 00:44:08,292 --> 00:44:12,250 inviting them to judge him. 665 00:44:14,792 --> 00:44:21,083 Dear friend, we are in no position to judge God. 666 00:44:21,167 --> 00:44:26,292 We are to trust God, not judge God. 667 00:44:26,333 --> 00:44:28,917 Because we are not God. 668 00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:33,833 You are not God. 669 00:44:33,875 --> 00:44:37,000 God is good and God is loving and God is merciful 670 00:44:37,042 --> 00:44:39,500 and God is kind and God is just 671 00:44:39,542 --> 00:44:44,000 and God is holy and God is righteous, 672 00:44:44,042 --> 00:44:51,667 and whatever God does is good and it is glorious. 673 00:44:58,083 --> 00:45:03,167 Question number four: 674 00:45:08,833 --> 00:45:10,625 "Is hell temporary? 675 00:45:10,667 --> 00:45:14,917 Or do the souls of the damned get destroyed?" 676 00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:18,333 Quotes Matthew 10:26-32, 677 00:45:18,375 --> 00:45:22,292 especially Matthew 10:28. 678 00:45:22,333 --> 00:45:24,500 Let's find it and read it. 679 00:45:24,542 --> 00:45:29,667 It's important and it regards the issue of annihilationism. 680 00:45:37,667 --> 00:45:40,833 I feel the Holy Spirit bringing to mind one point he would 681 00:45:40,875 --> 00:45:44,917 like me to make as well on the previous question of why would 682 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:47,167 God make people knowing they're going to hell, 683 00:45:47,250 --> 00:45:49,167 why would he create hell for them. 684 00:45:49,250 --> 00:45:52,000 I feel like the Holy Spirit wants me to tell you that 685 00:45:52,042 --> 00:45:55,000 Matthew 25:41, Jesus says that hell was made for the devil 686 00:45:55,083 --> 00:45:57,125 and his angels. 687 00:45:57,167 --> 00:46:01,167 The devil and his angels, Satan and his angels, spirit beings, 688 00:46:01,250 --> 00:46:04,333 they rebelled against God and there is no possibility 689 00:46:04,375 --> 00:46:06,583 of salvation for Satan and demons. 690 00:46:06,667 --> 00:46:09,500 Jesus did not go to the cross to die in their place, 691 00:46:09,583 --> 00:46:13,125 atoning for their sins, securing their salvation. 692 00:46:13,167 --> 00:46:16,500 Satan and demons have no opportunity of salvation, 693 00:46:16,583 --> 00:46:18,125 only damnation. 694 00:46:18,167 --> 00:46:21,333 And Jesus says in Matthew 25:41 that hell was made 695 00:46:21,375 --> 00:46:25,583 for the devil and his angels. 696 00:46:25,667 --> 00:46:30,583 Now, we choose to go there when we reject him. 697 00:46:33,750 --> 00:46:37,417 In the same way, a prison was made for criminals. 698 00:46:37,500 --> 00:46:42,042 We don't need to go there unless we choose to become a criminal. 699 00:46:44,667 --> 00:46:51,083 It was made to protect us, but sometimes, if we choose to do 700 00:46:51,167 --> 00:46:55,917 atrocious things, then we have to be taken away to protect 701 00:46:56,000 --> 00:47:00,417 those whom we are harming. 702 00:47:00,500 --> 00:47:04,417 And so, dear friends, hell was made to protect us 703 00:47:04,500 --> 00:47:07,500 from the devil and his angels. 704 00:47:07,542 --> 00:47:12,000 And I'm telling you today you need not go there. 705 00:47:12,042 --> 00:47:13,667 Trust in Jesus. 706 00:47:15,167 --> 00:47:17,500 Trust in Jesus. 707 00:47:17,542 --> 00:47:23,000 Hell was made for the devil and his angels. 708 00:47:23,083 --> 00:47:25,417 My job is to tell you the truth. 709 00:47:25,500 --> 00:47:29,833 Your job is to make a decision. 710 00:47:29,875 --> 00:47:33,083 Question number four: "Is hell temporary? 711 00:47:33,167 --> 00:47:35,708 Or do the souls of the damned get destroyed?" 712 00:47:35,792 --> 00:47:38,417 Wants to know about Matthew 10, especially verse 28. 713 00:47:38,500 --> 00:47:40,208 That's a question from Laine in Ballard. 714 00:47:40,292 --> 00:47:41,792 Here's Matthew 10:28. 715 00:47:41,833 --> 00:47:44,583 Jesus says, "And do not fear those who kill the body, 716 00:47:44,667 --> 00:47:45,917 but cannot kill the soul." 717 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:49,500 Again, physical body, spiritual soul. 718 00:47:49,542 --> 00:47:53,625 "Rather, fear him that is God, who can destroy both soul 719 00:47:53,667 --> 00:47:55,917 and body in hell." 720 00:47:56,000 --> 00:48:00,833 His question is, "What does the Bible say that our soul 721 00:48:00,875 --> 00:48:03,625 will be destroyed in hell?" 722 00:48:03,667 --> 00:48:05,917 The annihilationists would come along and say, 723 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:10,792 "What that means is people go to hell maybe for a moment, 724 00:48:10,833 --> 00:48:13,625 "maybe for an extended period of time, but eventually, 725 00:48:13,667 --> 00:48:15,917 "after suffering, they cease to exist like a candle 726 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:17,917 "that is blown out. 727 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,333 They are no more." 728 00:48:20,375 --> 00:48:22,583 That's not what it means. 729 00:48:22,667 --> 00:48:25,917 Previously in Luke's gospel, we looked at three parables 730 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:29,500 in Luke 15, the parable of the lost coin, 731 00:48:29,583 --> 00:48:33,333 the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost son. 732 00:48:33,375 --> 00:48:35,833 Remember those? 733 00:48:35,875 --> 00:48:39,417 The word used for lost is the word here used for destroyed. 734 00:48:39,500 --> 00:48:42,167 It's the same word. 735 00:48:42,250 --> 00:48:45,333 The son, the sheep, the coin, they were not destroyed, 736 00:48:45,375 --> 00:48:48,125 ceased to exist, obliterated and incinerated. 737 00:48:48,167 --> 00:48:50,000 They were lost. 738 00:48:50,042 --> 00:48:51,208 They were gone. 739 00:48:51,292 --> 00:48:52,792 They were useless. 740 00:48:52,833 --> 00:48:55,917 They were separated. 741 00:48:56,000 --> 00:49:00,125 That's what happens to those who die as non-Christians, 742 00:49:00,167 --> 00:49:05,667 unbelievers, rejecting Jesus Christ. 743 00:49:05,750 --> 00:49:11,083 They don't cease to exist, but they are lost forever. 744 00:49:13,083 --> 00:49:15,708 They are lost forever. 745 00:49:15,792 --> 00:49:17,583 God is an eternal God. 746 00:49:17,667 --> 00:49:21,625 A sin against him is an eternal act that requires 747 00:49:21,667 --> 00:49:24,208 an eternal consequence. 748 00:49:24,292 --> 00:49:30,125 And we are going to live eternally into the future. 749 00:49:30,167 --> 00:49:32,083 The question is where. 750 00:49:32,167 --> 00:49:37,167 I'll give you two verses on this that I think are emphatic. 751 00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:44,333 These verses are absolutely devastating to any position 752 00:49:44,375 --> 00:49:49,333 that denies the eternality of conscious torment. 753 00:49:49,375 --> 00:49:52,333 One is in the Old Testament and one is in the New. 754 00:49:52,375 --> 00:49:55,583 Daniel 12:2, "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth 755 00:49:55,667 --> 00:50:01,167 will arise, some to," what kind of, “life”? 756 00:50:03,167 --> 00:50:07,708 "Everlasting, and some to shame," 757 00:50:07,792 --> 00:50:10,667 and,” what kind of, “contempt,” Mars Hill? 758 00:50:10,750 --> 00:50:13,667 "Everlasting." 759 00:50:13,750 --> 00:50:18,167 Hell and heaven are everlasting. 760 00:50:18,250 --> 00:50:21,125 At the end of the age, there will be the resurrection 761 00:50:21,167 --> 00:50:25,792 of the dead, the body and the soul reunited for all. 762 00:50:25,833 --> 00:50:30,583 And as Jesus rose, we will rise, all will rise, 763 00:50:30,667 --> 00:50:37,125 believer and unbeliever, some to everlasting life in heaven, 764 00:50:37,167 --> 00:50:40,583 blessing, grace, the kingdom of God; 765 00:50:40,667 --> 00:50:47,417 others to shame and everlasting contempt in hell, conscious, 766 00:50:47,500 --> 00:50:52,375 eternal, torment, consequence, punishment, suffering. 767 00:50:54,292 --> 00:50:56,083 There will be people in hell 768 00:50:56,167 --> 00:50:59,500 as long as there are people in heaven. 769 00:50:59,542 --> 00:51:03,417 You cannot say, "I believe that people go to heaven forever, 770 00:51:03,500 --> 00:51:10,083 but not hell," because we are everlasting 771 00:51:10,167 --> 00:51:16,833 in punishment or pleasure, 772 00:51:16,875 --> 00:51:25,167 in damnation or salvation, in hell or heaven. 773 00:51:27,375 --> 00:51:33,500 You are going to live forever 774 00:51:33,583 --> 00:51:37,875 and it will be unceasing joy or unceasing anguish. 775 00:51:41,792 --> 00:51:45,583 My job is to tell you the truth. 776 00:51:45,667 --> 00:51:48,667 Your job is to make a decision. 777 00:51:51,292 --> 00:51:55,583 Friends, this is the most serious of matters. 778 00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:05,125 You can find someone to tell you otherwise. 779 00:52:05,167 --> 00:52:08,917 I don't judge, I'm not the judge, 780 00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:13,000 but there are pastors that are going to hell, 781 00:52:13,083 --> 00:52:16,875 so be careful who you trust. 782 00:52:19,750 --> 00:52:22,917 Question number five: 783 00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:27,000 "I am wondering if while we are in heaven we are aware 784 00:52:27,042 --> 00:52:31,792 "of family/loved ones suffering in hell." 785 00:52:31,833 --> 00:52:33,917 This is a very good question. 786 00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:36,792 "It is hard to imagine being happy in heaven knowing 787 00:52:36,833 --> 00:52:39,000 "or being aware of their existence. 788 00:52:39,042 --> 00:52:41,833 "I can only guess being in Jesus' presence overrides 789 00:52:41,875 --> 00:52:44,000 that feeling somehow?" 790 00:52:44,083 --> 00:52:47,917 asks Teresa in West Seattle. 791 00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:54,000 Let me say, first of all, I do not know. 792 00:52:58,167 --> 00:53:01,333 The Bible tells us everything we need to know. 793 00:53:01,375 --> 00:53:05,000 It doesn't tell us everything we want to know. 794 00:53:05,083 --> 00:53:07,625 It doesn't mean that there is not an answer. 795 00:53:07,667 --> 00:53:10,625 It means that we need to by faith wait 796 00:53:10,667 --> 00:53:12,917 until that answer comes. 797 00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,083 The Bible says in Deuteronomy 29:29 798 00:53:15,167 --> 00:53:20,208 that there are secret things that only God knows. 799 00:53:20,292 --> 00:53:24,208 Isaiah, I believe it's 55, says that God's thoughts and ways are 800 00:53:24,292 --> 00:53:26,917 so much higher than ours that there is great distance 801 00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:32,167 between our perception and his full understanding. 802 00:53:34,042 --> 00:53:38,792 First Corinthians 13 says, "Now we see like through a fogged window 803 00:53:38,833 --> 00:53:41,667 on a dark day." 804 00:53:41,750 --> 00:53:47,708 We see, but it is obscurely, not clearly. 805 00:53:47,792 --> 00:53:52,000 And that one day, we will see Jesus face to face, 806 00:53:52,042 --> 00:53:56,292 that upon our death and the ushering into his presence, 807 00:53:56,333 --> 00:54:00,417 all of our questions will be answered. 808 00:54:00,500 --> 00:54:04,333 In the meantime, we live by faith, not sight. 809 00:54:04,375 --> 00:54:06,667 We say, "Jesus, I don't understand everything, 810 00:54:06,750 --> 00:54:09,417 "but I trust you, and when I am with you, 811 00:54:09,500 --> 00:54:14,125 it will make sense then." 812 00:54:14,167 --> 00:54:19,500 The Bible does say in Revelation that in the kingdom of God, 813 00:54:19,542 --> 00:54:23,083 that Jesus will, quote, "Wipe every tear from our eyes." 814 00:54:23,167 --> 00:54:27,500 Now, what that infers to me is that there will be grieving, 815 00:54:27,583 --> 00:54:30,875 there will be mourning, 816 00:54:33,750 --> 00:54:37,667 and that Jesus will comfort us, 817 00:54:37,750 --> 00:54:44,000 perhaps even grieve with us, and then our grieving will cease 818 00:54:44,042 --> 00:54:46,583 and our rejoicing will begin. 819 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:54,500 And again, I tell you this as one who has given his life 820 00:54:54,583 --> 00:54:59,917 to being a pastor 821 00:55:00,042 --> 00:55:02,625 and before my ministry is done, 822 00:55:02,667 --> 00:55:06,000 if God would be gracious to give me as many years as I'm hoping 823 00:55:06,083 --> 00:55:10,500 for here, I'm gonna bury a lot of people. 824 00:55:10,583 --> 00:55:13,125 I've already buried a number. 825 00:55:13,167 --> 00:55:17,042 I'm gonna bury some of you. 826 00:55:20,375 --> 00:55:23,625 So for me, this is not just--it's just not heartless, 827 00:55:23,667 --> 00:55:25,917 academic speculation. 828 00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:30,917 It's heartfelt, pastoral affection. 829 00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:35,167 Where I would send you is to the Bible. 830 00:55:35,250 --> 00:55:37,083 My hope and goal, Mars Hill, 831 00:55:37,167 --> 00:55:39,208 is to always send you to the Bible. 832 00:55:39,292 --> 00:55:41,292 Man, I'm worried about some of you. 833 00:55:41,333 --> 00:55:44,000 I'm really worried about some of you. 834 00:55:44,042 --> 00:55:48,083 You're in the path of the wrath of God. 835 00:55:50,875 --> 00:55:56,083 But for those of you who are believers or become believers, 836 00:55:56,167 --> 00:56:00,292 Paul says this to the Philippians. 837 00:56:00,333 --> 00:56:03,000 To live is what, Mars Hill? 838 00:56:03,042 --> 00:56:04,583 "To live is Christ." 839 00:56:04,667 --> 00:56:06,333 This life is about Jesus. 840 00:56:06,375 --> 00:56:09,333 It's not about you, it's not about me, it's not about us. 841 00:56:09,375 --> 00:56:11,417 It's about him. 842 00:56:11,500 --> 00:56:14,083 "To live is Christ, and to die is," what? 843 00:56:14,167 --> 00:56:16,333 "Gain." 844 00:56:18,375 --> 00:56:22,583 Whatever's on the other side is gain. 845 00:56:22,667 --> 00:56:25,625 "My desire," he says, "is to depart and to be with Christ, 846 00:56:25,667 --> 00:56:29,000 for that is far better." 847 00:56:29,083 --> 00:56:32,667 Here's what I can tell you, friend. 848 00:56:32,750 --> 00:56:35,917 For the believer, to die is gain. 849 00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:39,375 And what awaits us is far better. 850 00:56:42,042 --> 00:56:47,667 And we'll know when we get there exactly what that means. 851 00:56:47,750 --> 00:56:52,333 Number six, the last question that I will seek to answer 852 00:56:52,375 --> 00:56:54,833 for you today: 853 00:56:54,875 --> 00:56:58,000 "Will everyone who doesn't know Jesus go to hell? 854 00:56:58,083 --> 00:57:00,708 What if you've never heard of Jesus at all?" 855 00:57:00,792 --> 00:57:03,917 asks Jesse at Mars Hill Ballard. 856 00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:05,792 There are essentially two questions here. 857 00:57:05,833 --> 00:57:07,625 I'll answer them in succession. 858 00:57:07,667 --> 00:57:10,000 Will everyone who doesn't know about Jesus go to hell? 859 00:57:10,042 --> 00:57:11,667 Yes. 860 00:57:12,750 --> 00:57:14,375 Yes. 861 00:57:16,000 --> 00:57:19,292 Yes. 862 00:57:22,542 --> 00:57:27,500 It greatly disturbs me when well-known pastors and preachers 863 00:57:27,542 --> 00:57:34,083 and authors get invited onto television studio sets, 864 00:57:34,167 --> 00:57:38,000 where the lights are on them and the world is listening to them 865 00:57:38,083 --> 00:57:43,333 and the interviewer inquires of them, "If you don't know Jesus, 866 00:57:43,375 --> 00:57:45,125 are you going to hell?" 867 00:57:45,167 --> 00:57:48,000 And they squirm or they change the subject or they appeal 868 00:57:48,042 --> 00:57:50,667 to the emotions or they tell a story. 869 00:57:50,750 --> 00:57:56,125 They do anything but say, "Yes, yes. 870 00:57:56,167 --> 00:58:02,000 If you don't know Jesus, you go to hell." 871 00:58:02,083 --> 00:58:03,917 “What about unborn babies?” You know what? 872 00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:06,500 God's a father, he makes a decision, I trust him. 873 00:58:06,583 --> 00:58:09,000 I'm less concerned about the unborn. 874 00:58:09,042 --> 00:58:11,917 Let's talk about you. 875 00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:13,500 You're alive. 876 00:58:13,583 --> 00:58:15,500 You have a decision to make. 877 00:58:15,583 --> 00:58:19,000 I trust God with my miscarried child. 878 00:58:19,083 --> 00:58:23,083 I trust him to do what is good and right and just. 879 00:58:23,167 --> 00:58:24,417 What about you? 880 00:58:24,500 --> 00:58:26,125 Don't change the subject, friend. 881 00:58:26,167 --> 00:58:30,500 And I won't let you because I love you. 882 00:58:30,583 --> 00:58:32,833 Let's talk about you. 883 00:58:32,875 --> 00:58:34,833 Have you received Jesus? 884 00:58:34,875 --> 00:58:36,917 Have you trusted in Jesus? 885 00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:39,667 Have you turned to Jesus? 886 00:58:39,750 --> 00:58:44,417 If not, you are in the path of the wrath of God. 887 00:58:44,500 --> 00:58:49,333 You are headed to the conscious, eternal torments of hell. 888 00:58:49,375 --> 00:58:51,167 Let me say it clearly. 889 00:58:51,250 --> 00:58:53,000 Let me say it plainly. 890 00:58:53,042 --> 00:58:54,833 Let me say it loudly. 891 00:58:54,875 --> 00:58:56,333 Let me say it lovingly. 892 00:58:56,375 --> 00:58:58,125 Let me say it pleadingly. 893 00:58:58,167 --> 00:59:03,625 You are in danger. 894 00:59:03,667 --> 00:59:05,000 Yes. 895 00:59:06,167 --> 00:59:07,500 Yes. 896 00:59:07,542 --> 00:59:10,542 Without Jesus, you go to hell. 897 00:59:13,375 --> 00:59:16,125 My job is to tell you the what? 898 00:59:16,167 --> 00:59:18,000 The truth. 899 00:59:18,042 --> 00:59:21,208 'Cause I love God and I love you. 900 00:59:21,292 --> 00:59:23,833 And I can't have your blood on my hands 901 00:59:23,875 --> 00:59:27,000 and I can't stand before him and have him say, 902 00:59:27,042 --> 00:59:31,833 "Not well done, unfaithful servant." 903 00:59:33,500 --> 00:59:36,125 Here's what Jesus says. 904 00:59:36,167 --> 00:59:40,833 John 14:6, he couldn't be clearer. 905 00:59:40,875 --> 00:59:42,500 Had he not said things like this, 906 00:59:42,583 --> 00:59:45,583 no one would have killed him. 907 00:59:45,667 --> 00:59:50,917 "I am the way, the truth, the life," singular and exclusive. 908 00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:55,125 "No one comes to the Father but by me. 909 00:59:55,167 --> 01:00:00,792 No one comes to the Father but by me," no one, no one. 910 01:00:02,333 --> 01:00:04,083 Buddhism, no. 911 01:00:04,167 --> 01:00:05,500 Hinduism, no. 912 01:00:05,542 --> 01:00:08,125 New Age-ism, no. 913 01:00:08,167 --> 01:00:09,917 Mormonism, no. 914 01:00:10,000 --> 01:00:12,292 Jehovah's Witness-ism, no. 915 01:00:12,333 --> 01:00:14,000 Nice people, no. 916 01:00:14,083 --> 01:00:15,917 Good people, no. 917 01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:17,917 Generous people, no. 918 01:00:18,000 --> 01:00:20,125 Religious people, no. 919 01:00:20,167 --> 01:00:22,833 No one! That includes you. 920 01:00:22,875 --> 01:00:27,333 No one, no exception, no one. 921 01:00:30,167 --> 01:00:32,000 No one. 922 01:00:32,083 --> 01:00:37,625 No one comes to the Father but through Jesus Christ, 923 01:00:37,667 --> 01:00:40,125 the Son of God. 924 01:00:40,167 --> 01:00:44,000 That's exactly what Jesus said. 925 01:00:46,333 --> 01:00:48,125 My job is to tell the truth. 926 01:00:48,167 --> 01:00:49,917 Your job is to make a decision. 927 01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:55,167 No decision is to make the wrong decision. 928 01:00:58,000 --> 01:01:02,083 Peter, preaching as a pastor to people that he loves 929 01:01:02,167 --> 01:01:05,125 as I love you, and just because I'm yelling 930 01:01:05,167 --> 01:01:06,792 doesn't mean I don't love you. 931 01:01:06,833 --> 01:01:08,708 It means I'm warning you. 932 01:01:08,792 --> 01:01:13,000 It's like a building is on fire and I'm shouting, "Fire!" 933 01:01:13,042 --> 01:01:15,833 Because my voice is elevated does not mean I don't love you. 934 01:01:15,875 --> 01:01:19,875 It means that I do. 935 01:01:21,333 --> 01:01:24,625 He says in Acts 4:12, "There is salvation." 936 01:01:24,667 --> 01:01:26,917 Let me just stop there. 937 01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:29,708 Isn't that fantastic? 938 01:01:29,792 --> 01:01:32,292 Boy, there's good news. 939 01:01:32,333 --> 01:01:34,125 There is salvation. 940 01:01:34,167 --> 01:01:38,917 “Phew, okay, tell me about that. 941 01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:40,333 “There is salvation. 942 01:01:40,375 --> 01:01:43,333 That sounds great.” 943 01:01:43,375 --> 01:01:45,583 All right? 944 01:01:45,667 --> 01:01:49,083 [applauding] 945 01:01:50,167 --> 01:01:55,667 Friends, “there is salvation,” but it's “in no one else,” 946 01:01:59,375 --> 01:02:07,167 "for there is no other name under heaven," anywhere, 947 01:02:09,167 --> 01:02:15,042 "given among men by which we must be saved." 948 01:02:16,875 --> 01:02:19,083 It's Jesus. 949 01:02:19,167 --> 01:02:22,500 That's it. 950 01:02:22,542 --> 01:02:27,167 Salvation is in Christ alone. 951 01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:31,292 And the question is, "What if you've never heard 952 01:02:31,333 --> 01:02:33,000 about Jesus at all?" 953 01:02:33,042 --> 01:02:35,333 Well, I'll tell you a few things. 954 01:02:35,375 --> 01:02:41,500 Salvation is only through Jesus, but the message of Jesus can be 955 01:02:41,542 --> 01:02:46,000 sent out by missionaries, technology, publishing, 956 01:02:46,083 --> 01:02:50,125 the Internet, church planting, 957 01:02:50,167 --> 01:02:55,167 an angel can show up, God can show up. 958 01:02:55,250 --> 01:02:57,417 I don't know who has heard. 959 01:02:57,500 --> 01:02:59,417 I don't know who hasn't heard. 960 01:02:59,500 --> 01:03:02,125 Here's what I'm worried about! 961 01:03:02,167 --> 01:03:04,625 Are we telling them? 962 01:03:04,667 --> 01:03:08,000 If people haven't heard, then let's tell 'em. 963 01:03:08,083 --> 01:03:10,125 Let's tell 'em that Jesus is God. 964 01:03:10,167 --> 01:03:13,500 Let's tell 'em that Jesus lived without sin. 965 01:03:13,583 --> 01:03:17,833 Let's tell them that Jesus died in their place for their sins. 966 01:03:17,875 --> 01:03:22,917 Let's tell 'em that Jesus rose to conquer Satan, sin, death, 967 01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:25,000 hell, the wrath of God. 968 01:03:25,083 --> 01:03:28,292 Let's tell 'em that he is the way, the truth, and the life. 969 01:03:28,333 --> 01:03:35,292 Let's tell 'em that there is no salvation apart from him! 970 01:03:35,333 --> 01:03:41,500 [applauding] 971 01:03:41,542 --> 01:03:45,125 My job is to tell you the truth. 972 01:03:45,167 --> 01:03:49,333 Your job is to make a decision. 973 01:03:49,375 --> 01:03:54,000 Father God, I thank you that I get to teach the Bible. 974 01:03:56,750 --> 01:04:00,667 And God, I thank you that it's true. 975 01:04:00,750 --> 01:04:05,000 And I thank you that, God, because of Jesus, 976 01:04:05,083 --> 01:04:09,500 I have been taken out of the path of your wrath, 977 01:04:09,542 --> 01:04:13,708 a place that I completely deserve. 978 01:04:13,792 --> 01:04:19,167 And I have no excuse, but I do have grace. 979 01:04:19,250 --> 01:04:26,125 And Lord Jesus, I--thank you is not--it's not a big enough word, 980 01:04:26,167 --> 01:04:29,625 but it's the one that I have. 981 01:04:29,667 --> 01:04:35,083 Thank you that there is salvation 982 01:04:35,167 --> 01:04:37,208 and that I have the privilege 983 01:04:37,292 --> 01:04:42,083 of not only enjoying it, but proclaiming it. 984 01:04:42,167 --> 01:04:45,917 And God, I pray for some who would use this as an opportunity 985 01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:51,917 for philosophical speculation or mental investigation rather than 986 01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:54,917 eternal transformation. 987 01:04:55,000 --> 01:04:58,417 And God, I pray for the false teachers and the false shepherds 988 01:04:58,500 --> 01:05:01,917 and the false apostles who, in an effort to be popular, 989 01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:05,292 would not tell the truth. 990 01:05:07,875 --> 01:05:10,125 God, I really love these people. 991 01:05:10,167 --> 01:05:14,583 Not as much as you do, but I love 'em, and I pray that they, 992 01:05:14,667 --> 01:05:17,917 Lord Jesus, would turn to you because I know 993 01:05:18,000 --> 01:05:20,125 that you're willing to save them. 994 01:05:20,167 --> 01:05:22,042 Amen.