10/20/02

FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

RAY RUSS - PASTOR-TEACHER

MATTHEW: THE KING HAS COME, WEEK 172

TITLE: THE JUDGMENT OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS, PART II

TEXT: MATTHEW 25:41-46

INTRODUCTION: (1) NO ONE IN THE BIBLE SPOKE MORE OF JUDGMENT THAN JESUS.

* HE REPEATEDLY WARNED ABOUT IMPENDING DOOM FOR THE UNREPENTANT. IN LUKE 13:3&5 HE SAID, (READ THEM).

** NOW BEYOND THOSE VERSES, JESUS SPOKE OF HELL FAR MORE THAN OF HEAVEN AND ALWAYS IN THE MOST VIVID AND DISTURBING TERMS.

*** IN FACT, MOST OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE EVERLASTING DOOM OF SINNERS CAME FROM THE LIPS OF THE SAVIOR.

**** AND NONE OF THE BIBLICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF JUDGMENT ARE MORE SEVERE OR MORE INTENSE THAN THOSE GIVEN BY JESUS.

(2) YET NOTHING JESUS SAID OR DID WAS INCONSISTENT WITH HIS GRACIOUS LOVE.

* HE PLEADED WITH SINNERS TO TURN FROM THEIR SINS, TO BE RECONCILED TO GOD, AND TO TAKE REFUGE IN HIM FROM THE COMING JUDGMENT.

** AND HE BETTER THAN ANYONE KNEW THE HIGH COST OF SIN AND THE SEVERITY OF DIVINE WRATH AGAINST THE SINNER, FOR HE WOULD BEAR THE FULL FORCE OF THAT WRATH ON THE CROSS ON THE BEHALF OF THOSE HE REDEEMED. READ ISA. 53:5, ISA. 53:10-12 AND II COR. 5:21.

*** AND SO IN KNOWING THE SEVERITY OF HIS FATHER'S WRATH TOWARD SIN, BEING HOLY HIMSELF, HE WARNED PEOPLE OFTEN OF COMING JUDGMENT.

**** IN LIGHT OF THAT, CHARLES SPURGEON SAID, "NONE USED STRONGER OR MORE ALARMING LANGUAGE THAN OUR DEAR REDEEMER CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF UNGODLY MEN."

(3) "HE KNEW NOTHING OF THAT PRETENDED SYMPATHY WHICH WILL RATHER LET MEN PERISH THAN WARN THEM AGAINST PERISHING. SUCH TENDERNESS IS MERELY SELFISHNESS EXCUSING ITSELF FROM A DISTASTEFUL DUTY." (END QUOTE)

* AND TODAY FOR SOME, THEY WON'T TALK ABOUT HELL OR JUDGMENT, OR DON'T BELIEVE IN HELL OR JUDGMENT, SO THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, THEY WANT TO BE POSITIVE AND NOT BE PERCEIVED AS PREACHERS OF JUDGMENTS.

** YET, IF YOU LOVE JESUS AND LOVE PEOPLE, YOU'LL DO EXACTLY WHAT JESUS DID, WARN THEM OF COMING JUDGMENT!!

*** HELL IS TO BE FEARED. AND JESUS WAS AND IS THE EPITOME OF LOVE, BUT HE'S ALSO HOLY SO HE HATES SIN AND WILL JUDGE IT ETERNALLY IN THOSE WHO REJECT HIM AS THEIR SAVIOR AND LORD.

**** AND IN OUR TEXT TODAY, WE WILL SEE ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE AND SOBERING WARNINGS OF JUDGMENT IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE.

(4) AND WE WILL SEE THAT HELL IS NOT ANNIHILATION, NOR WILL IT BE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WILL SIT DOWN AND HAVE COFFEE BREAKS SEEING ALL THEIR OLD FRIENDS AS A KIND OF REUNION FOR SINNERS.

* FOR IT IS A PLACE OF ETERNAL FIRE, PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONS AND IT WILL BE A PLACE OF EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT. ** AND JESUS IS PICTURED IN THIS TEXT AS THE JUDGE. AND AS THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE OF THE UNIVERSE HE AT HIS COMING BACK TO EARTH AFTER THE TRIBULATION WILL SEPARATE THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS.

*** AND HE DOES THIS RIGHT BEFORE HE ESTABLISHES HIS KINGDOM ON THE EARTH, AS HE SITS ON HIS GLORIOUS THRONE.

**** AND THE BELIEVING SHEEP WILL BE PLACED ON HIS RIGHT, THE PLACE OF FAVOR AND BLESSING.

(5) BUT THE UNBELIEVING GOATS HE WILL PUT ON THE LEFT, THE PLACE OF DISFAVOR AND REJECTION.

* AND IN THE CONTEXT OF MATTHEW 25, THE UNSAVED GOATS WHO ARE ALIVE AND LIVE THROUGH THE TRIBULATION ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER HIS KINGDOM, BUT ARE SEPARATED FROM THE SHEEP AND CAST INTO HELL.

** WHEREAS, THE SHEEP, PEOPLE WHO COME TO KNOW CHRIST DURING THE TRIBULATION, AND WHO LIVE THROUGH IT, ARE BROUGHT INTO CHRIST'S KINGDOM.

*** THEY INHERIT THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR THEM FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

**** SO JUDGMENT TAKES PLACE RIGHT BEFORE THE REIGN OF CHRIST ON EARTH AFTER THE GREAT TRIBULATION.

(6) BECAUSE OF THAT, I'VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, THE JUDGMENT OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS, PART II, AS WE FINISH THIS PARAGRAPH WE STARTED LAST SUNDAY, AND FINISH THE OLIVET DISCOURSE.

* AND WE'LL LOOK AT 4 THINGS IN THE 6 VERSES WE ARE GOING TO STUDY. NO. 1 THE REJECTION OF THE GOATS, V. 41; NO. 2 THE REASONS THE GOATS ARE REJECTED, VV. 42&43; NO. 3 THE RESPONSES, SPEAKING OF THE RESPONSE OF THE GOATS AND THE RESPONSE OF CHRIST, VV. 44&45; AND NO. 4 THE RESULTS, SPEAKING OF THE END RESULT OF THE GOATS AND THE END RESULT OF THE SHEEP, V. 46.

** AND WITH THOSE POINTS TO HANG YOUR THOUGHTS ON, LOOK AT V. 41 WHERE WE'LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE REJECTION. LOOK AT MATTHEW 25:41 PLEASE.

I. THE REJECTION, (READ V. 41)

A. NOW JESUS HAS ALREADY ADDRESSED HIS SHEEP, TRUE BELIEVERS, IN VV. 34-40, NOW BEGINNING IN V. 41 JESUS WILL SPEAK TO THE GOATS, THOSE WHO DO NOT TRULY KNOW HIM.

* AND IN V. 41, THOSE WHO ARE ON THE LEFT HAND ARE THE GOATS, THOSE WHO ARE LOST, AND CHRIST'S WORDS TO THEM ARE WORDS OF JUDGMENT.

** AND HE FIRST OF ALL SAYS, "DEPART FROM ME". AND THIS PHRASE IS ALSO USED IN MATTHEW 7:23 WHERE JESUS SAID: (READ IT).

*** NOW BY THESE WORDS, JESUS IS SPEAKING OF ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD AND FROM HIS GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, TRUTH, JOY, PEACE, AND OTHER GOOD THINGS.

**** AND THESE WORDS "DEPART FROM ME" LEAD ME TO ASK A QUESTION. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THE WICKED TO BE SENT AWAY FROM GOD, TO DEPART FROM GOD?

1. IS NOT GOD OMNIPRESENT? IS NOT GOD EVERYWHERE? DOES NOT PSALM 139:7&8 COMMUNICATE THAT GOD IS EVEN IN HELL?

* FOR IT SAYS IN PSALM 139:7&8 - "WHERE CAN I GO FROM THY SPIRIT? OR WHERE CAN I FLEE FROM THY PRESENCE? IF I ASCEND TO HEAVEN, THOU ART THERE; IF I MAKE MY BED IN SHEOL, BEHOLD, THOU ART THERE."

** NOW THE KJV AND NKJV TRANSLATE THE WORD "SHEOL" OR "DEPTHS" HELL AND MOST LIKELY THE UNDERWORLD IS TALKED ABOUT HERE OR THE GRAVE, THE PSALMISTS POINT BEING THAT GOD IS EVERYWHERE, MAKING REFERENCE TO HIS OMNIPRESENCE.

*** AND TECHNICALLY FOR ARGUMENT'S SAKE WE COULD SAY THAT GOD'S PRESENCE IS IN HELL, CERTAINLY THEY WILL KNOW OF HIM THERE.

*** BUT THE PRESENCE OF HIS JUSTICE, HIS WRATH AND HIS HOLINESS WILL BE THERE.

**** AS WILLIAM HENDRICKSEN SAYS IN HIS COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW AND I QUOTE: "ALTHOUGH GOD IS INDEED EVERYWHERE, THAT PRESENCE IS NOT EVERYWHERE A PRESENCE OF LOVE. IT IS FROM HIS PRESENCE OF LOVE, PATIENCE, AND WARNING THAT THE WICKED ARE FINALLY BANISHED FOREVER." (END QUOTE)

2. NOW I AM NOT GOING TO BE DOGMATIC ON THIS POINT. FOR SOME SAY GOD'S PRESENCE WILL NOT BE IN HELL.

* BUT CERTAINLY THOSE IN HELL WILL REALIZE EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THEIR UNENDING PAIN AND SUFFERING THAT GOD IS JUST, HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS IN CASTING THEM THERE.

** AND HERE IN THE BEGINNING OF V. 41, JESUS SAYS: "DEPART FROM ME."

*** AND AS WE MOVE ON IN V. 41 JESUS CALLS THESE GOATS "ACCURSED ONES" OR "CURSED" DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE.

**** AND THIS GREEK WORD LIT. MEANS TO CURSE, IT MEANS DOOM AND TO INVOKE EVIL UPON, AND HERE IN THIS CONTEXT IMPLYING THAT THESE HAVE BEEN PRONOUNCED GUILTY AND SENTENCED TO TORMENT.

3. AND THIS SEEMS TO BE THE MEANING HERE, FOR THE WORDS THAT FOLLOW ARE "INTO THE ETERNAL FIRE".

* SO THE DOOM, THE CURSE UPON THE GOATS IS TO BE SEPARATED FROM CHRIST INTO THE ETERNAL FIRE.

** AND ETERNAL MAY BE BETTER TRANSLATED EVERLASTING AS IT IS IN THE KJV AND NKJV, FOR ETERNAL IMPLIES NO BEGINNING AND NO END.

*** AND NO END TO THE FIRE IS CERTAINLY THE MEANING HERE AS WE WILL SEE IN V. 46, BUT HELL CERTAINLY HAD A BEGINNING.

**** FOR IF THE FIRE OF THIS JUDGMENT WAS "PREPARED" AND THEREFORE HAD A BEGINNING.

4. FOR THIS PLACE WAS PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS, FOR THE DEVIL AND THE FALLEN ANGELS, DEMONS.

* AND MOST LIKELY BECAUSE THEY REBELLED FIRST, THAT AFTER THEIR FALL, HELL WAS CREATED. AND HUMAN BEINGS WHO FOLLOW IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS WHO DO NOT TURN TO CHRIST WILL ALSO BE JUDGED THERE.

** THE GOATS WHO CONTINUE TO HAVE SATAN AS THEIR FATHER WILL GO TO THE PLACE PREPARED FOR THEIR FATHER THE DEVIL.

*** FOR JOHN 8:44 SAYS: "YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, AND YOU WANT TO DO THE DESIRES OF YOUR FATHER. HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, AND DOES NOT STAND IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSE THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHENEVER HE SPEAKS A LIE, HE SPEAKS FROM HIS OWN NATURE; FOR HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FATHER OF LIES."

**** SO SATAN IS OUR FATHER UNTIL BY THE GRACE OF SALVATION, GOD BECOMES OUR FATHER AND WE BECOME SONS OF GOD, BUT IF WE DON'T TURN TO CHRIST, SATAN REMAINS OUR FATHER, AND WE WILL OCCUPY THE SAME PLACE WITH HIM AND HIS DEMONS FOREVER!

5. AND UNFORTUNATELY SOME PEOPLE THINK OF HELL AS A PLACE WHERE THE DEVIL TORMENTS SINNERS IN HIS RED SUIT WITH HIS PITCHFORK.

* BUT JESUS PICTURES HELL AS A PLACE WHERE THE DEVIL AND DEMONS WITH THE LOST ARE SUFFERING TOGETHER. AND WHAT A TERRIBLE ASSOCIATION! WHAT A DESTINY!

** TO SPEND ETERNITY SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH AN ABSOLUTELY EVIL BEING WHOSE ONE GOAL HAS BEEN TO DEFY GOD AND BRING OTHERS TO SHARE IN SUFFERING FOREVER. *** AND AS WE GO BACK TO V. 41, WE SEE THAT HELL IS A PLACE OF SEPARATION FROM CHRIST, A PLACE OF ASSOCIATION WITH SATAN, AND THE DURATION OF THIS JUDGMENT IS FOREVER, IT IS EVERLASTING!!

**** WHAT A TERRIBLE PLACE OF JUDGMENT. AND BEGINNING IN V. 41, WE START TO SEE THE REASONS FOR THIS JUDGMENT, OUR 2'D POINT TODAY. LOOK AT V. 42 PLEASE.

II. THE REASONS, (READ V. 42)

A. NOW THE EVIDENCE THAT THESE REJECTED PEOPLE NEVER BELONGED TO CHRIST WILL BE THAT THEY DID NOT LOVE AND SERVE HIS PEOPLE, HIS BROTHERS, CONTEXTUALLY TALKING ABOUT TRIBULATION SAINTS WHO ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE THEY CAN'T BUY OR SELL.

* SO THE REASONS STATED HERE ARE THE ANTITHESIS, THE CONTRAST, THE OPPOSITE OF THE REASONS FOR THE BLESSINGS OF THE SHEEP STATED IN VV. 35&36.

** THEIR RESPONSE TO BELIEVER'S NEEDS WILL HAVE BEEN JUST THE OPPOSITE OF THOSE WHO ENTER THE KINGDOM.

*** FOR JESUS STATES, "WHEN I WAS HUNGRY, YOU GAVE ME NOTHING TO EAT, AND I WAS THIRSTY YOU GAVE ME NOTHING TO DRINK."

**** AND WHEN CHRIST USES THE PERSONAL PRONOUN I, HE IS TALKING ABOUT THAT WHATEVER BELIEVERS DO FOR EACH OTHER THEY ALSO DO FOR JESUS.

1. TO FEED YOUR BROTHER IS TO FEED CHRIST, TO GIVE WATER TO YOUR BROTHER IS TO GIVE WATER TO CHRIST.

* AND THIS CONTINUES IN V. 43. LOOK AT V. 43 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 43. NOW THE GOOD WORKS THAT ARE DONE THAT GIVE EVIDENCE OF SALVATION FOR THE SHEEP IN VV. 35&36, ARE NOT DONE BY THE GOATS.

* AND A STRANGER HERE IMPLIES SOMEONE THAT IS HOMELESS, NAKED IMPLIES SOMEONE WHO DID NOT HAVE PROPER CLOTHING.

** AND BEING SICK SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT VISITS AND BEING IN PRISON, OBVIOUSLY FOR THEIR FAITH, SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT VISITS.

*** AND BASICALLY WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS ACTIONS OF LOVE. THERE IS A TRUE NEED HERE AND YOU MEET THE NEED AS YOU ARE ABLE.

**** AND THESE ACTIONS OF LOVE ARE FRUITS, RESULTS OF TRUE SALVATION, OF BEING A TRUE BELIEVER. AND THESE ACTIONS OF LOVE NOT BEING PRESENT GIVE EVIDENCE THAT A PERSON IS NOT A BELIEVER.

1. AND THESE GOATS, THESE UNSAVED PEOPLE SHOWED BY THEIR LIVES, THEIR FRUITS, THEIR ACTIONS, THAT THEY DID NOT BELONG TO CHRIST.

* AND AS I COMMUNICATED LAST SUNDAY, WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT WORKS TO BE SAVED, BUT WORKS THAT RESULT FROM BEING SAVED, FOR BELIEVERS ARE JUSTIFIED BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE AND BECAUSE OF CHRIST ALONE.

** THESE GOATS GIVE EVIDENCE THAT THEY DO NOT BELONG TO CHRIST BY THEIR LACK OF WORKS.

*** AND BEGINNING IN V. 44, IT LEADS THEM TO ASK A QUESTION, WE SEE THEIR RESPONSE TO WHAT CHRIST SAYS IN V. 44, LOOK AT V. 44 PLEASE, OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE RESPONSES.

III. THE RESPONSES, (READ V. 44)

A. NOW LIKE THE SHEEP WHO ARE RECEIVED INTO THE KINGDOM, THE GOATS WHO ARE REJECTED WILL ALSO BE AMAZED AT THE LORD'S WORDS TO THEM.

* AND THEY WILL ASK, LORD WHEN DID WE SEE YOU WITHOUT FOOD? AND WHEN DID WE SEE YOU THIRSTY?

** AND WHEN DID WE SEE YOU HOMELESS AND WITHOUT PROPER CLOTHES? AND WHEN DID WE SEE YOU SICK OR IN PRISON?

*** AND THEIR EXCUSE IS, THEY DIDN'T SEE JESUS IN PERSON. WHEN DID WE SEE YOU?

**** AND JESUS WILL ANSWER THAT QUESTION IN V. 45 AND GIVE HIS REASON FOR THEIR REJECTION.

- LOOK AT V. 45 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 45. NOW JESUS MAKES IT CLEAR, TO FAIL TO THE LEAST OF CHRIST'S BROTHERS IS TO FAIL TO SERVE HIM.

* SO TO FAIL TO SERVE CHRIST'S PEOPLE IS TO FAIL TO SERVE HIM, AND TO FAIL TO SERVE HIM IS TO PROVE ONE DOES NOT BELONG TO HIM.

** AND CHRIST'S WORDS OF CONDEMNATION TO THE GOATS ARE AN EXACT BUT INVERTED ECHO OF HIS EARLIER COMMENDATION OF THE SHEEP IN V. 40.

*** SO CHRIST EXPOSES THEIR GUILT BY CALLING TO MIND THEIR TREATMENT OF HIS PEOPLE, OR RATHER THEIR TOTAL INDIFFERENCE.

**** AND NOTE HERE BEFORE I GO ON TO V. 46 THAT CONTEXTUALLY CHRIST'S BROTHERS, THE LEAST OF THESE IS TALKING ABOUT TRIBULATION SAINTS, PEOPLE WHO ARE SAVED AND SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION.

1. BUT CERTAINLY THE APPLICATION CAN BE MADE THAT HOW WE TREAT OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS NOW IS HOW WE TREAT CHRIST AND THAT WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE IN HOW WE TREAT ALL PEOPLE.

* FOR WE START WITH THE FAMILY OF FAMILIES, BUT IF WE HAVE PLENTY, WE MEET THE NEEDS OF THE LOST AS WE CARE TO SHOW THEM THE LOVE OF CHRIST, READ GAL. 6:10, PROVERBS 3:27 AND PROVERBS 19:17.

** ALSO IN I JOHN 3:17 IT SAYS: "BUT WHOEVER HAS THE WORLD'S GOODS, AND BEHOLDS HIS BROTHER IN NEED AND CLOSES HIS HEART AGAINST HIM, HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD ABIDE IN HIM?"

*** NOW BELOVED, WE START WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHICH IS A WITNESS TO THE WORLD OF OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND CHRIST, BUT ALSO WE REACH OUT TO THE LOST AND MEET NEEDS WHICH SHOWS THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

**** BUT THE GOATS WERE TOO SELFISH TO DO THAT, WHICH AGAIN GIVES EVIDENCE THEY DIDN'T KNOW CHRIST.

2. AND THE RESULTS OF NOT KNOWING CHRIST ARE GIVEN IN V. 46 WHEN JESUS COMES BACK TO EARTH AND PREPARES FOR HIS KINGDOM. LOOK AT V. 46 PLEASE.

IV. THE RESULTS, (READ V. 46)

A. NOW "THESE" IN V. 46 SPEAK OF THE GOATS AND THE RIGHTEOUS IN V. 46 SPEAK OF THE SHEEP.

* AND THE CONCLUSION OF THE JUDGMENT OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS IS SUMMARIZED HERE BY THE APPOINTMENT OF THEIR SEPARATE DESTINIES.

* AND UNDERSTAND THAT JESUS USED THE SAME GREEK WORD WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN TRANSLATED ETERNAL OR EVERLASTING TO DESCRIBE SALVATION AND CONDEMNATION.

*** AND IT LIT. MEANS TO NEVER CEASE, SOMETHING THAT IS ETERNAL OR EVERLASTING.

**** AND IN THE NAS AND NIV, BOTH WORDS ARE TRANSLATED ETERNAL, WHEREAS THE KJV AND NKJV TRANSLATE THE FIRST WORD EVERLASTING AND THE 2'D WORD ETERNAL, BUT IT IS THE SAME GREEK WORD IN BOTH SPOTS.

1. AND THIS WORD IN THE GREEK WHICH YOU'VE JUST LOOKED AT ON THE SCREEN IS THE STRONGEST WORD THAT CAN BE USED IN THE GREEK TO EXPRESS THAT WHICH IS UNENDING.

* AND MY POINT IS IN THOSE WHO TRY TO COMMUNICATE THAT HELL IS ANNIHILATION RATHER THAN ETERNAL JUDGMENT MUST CONSIDER THAT IF BELIEVERS WILL BE IN HEAVEN WITH GOD FOREVER, THE LOST WILL BE IN HELL WITH THE DEVIL FOREVER.

** IF EVERLASTING LIFE IS FOREVER LIFE THAN EVERLASTING HELL IS FOREVER JUDGMENT.

*** AND THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT V. 46 USES THE SAME EXACT WORD TO DESCRIBE THE DURATION OF THE SINNER'S PUNISHMENT IN HELL AS IT DOES TO DESCRIBE THE DURATION OF THE BELIEVER'S LIFE WITH GOD.

**** AND THE MOST FRIGHTENING THING TO ME ABOUT THE PUNISHMENT OF HELL IS THAT IT IS FOREVER, IT IS UNENDING!

2. SPURGEON SAID AND I QUOTE, "THE HELL OF HELLS WILL BE THE THOUGHT THAT IT IS FOREVER. YOU WILL LOOK UPON THE THRONE OF GOD, AND IT SHALL BE WRITTEN, "FOREVER!" WHERE THE DAMNED JINGLE THE BURNING IRONS OF THEIR TORMENTS, THEY SHALL SAY "FOREVER!" WHEN THEY HOWL, ECHO CRIES, "FOREVER!"

* HE WENT ON TO SAY, "THE SOUL SEES WRITTEN OVER IT'S HEAD, "YOU ARE DAMNED FOREVER." IT HEARS HOWLINGS THAT ARE TO BE PERPETUAL; IT SEES FLAMES WHICH ARE UNQUENCHABLE; IT KNOWS PAINS THAT ARE UNMITIGATED."

** AND THEN SPURGEON SAID, "WHAT WOE IT WOULD BE TO BE ONLY AN HOUR IN HELL! OH, HOW YOU WOULD WISH THEN YOU HAD SOUGHT THE SAVIOR! BUT ALAS, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN HOUR IN HELL. ONCE LOST, YOU ARE LOST FOREVER! THEREFORE, SEEK THE LORD NOW."

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY (1) YOU MAY BE THINKING, RAY I WONDER HOW GOD IN HIS GOODNESS COULD JUDGE PEOPLE FOREVER. THAT IS AMAZING TO ME, HOW CAN THAT BE?

* WELL, MY RESPONSE IS, THAT IT IS NOT THE LORD'S COMING IN WRATH TO RENDER JUDGMENT THAT IS AMAZING TO ME, BUT RATHER IT IS AMAZING THAT IN HIS FIRST COMING IN GRACE HE BECAME MAN TO SAVE MAN FROM HIS SINS.

** AND THE WONDER TO ME IS NOT THAT JESUS WILL SOME DAY COME IN GLORY TO JUDGE THE WORLD, BUT THAT HE FIRST CAME IN HUMILITY TO SAVE SINNERS.

*** THE MARVEL TO ME IS NOT THAT GOD PROMISES TO CONDEMN SINNERS FOR THEIR SIN, BUT THAT HE FIRST OFFERS DELIVERANCE FROM IT.

**** THE REMARKABLE THING TO ME TODAY IS NOT THAT PEOPLE GO TO HELL FOREVER, BUT WHY DOES ANYONE GO TO HEAVEN.

(2) GOD IS A JUST, HOLY, RIGHTEOUS GOD WHO WILL JUDGE SIN. BUT HE IS ALSO A LOVING, KIND, PATIENT, GRACIOUS GOD WHO SAVES SINNERS.

* AND THE FUTURE OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS AND THE FUTURE OF THE RIGHTEOUS COULD HARDLY BE MORE STARKLY DIFFERENT IN OUR TEXT TODAY.

** SO THE IMPLICATION OF THIS IS PLAIN: THE TIME TO THINK DEEPLY ABOUT ONE'S DESTINY IS NOW.

*** THE TIME TO PREPARE FOR JUDGMENT IS NOW. THE DAY OF SALVATION IS NOW. NOW IS THE TIME TO GET READY.

**** FOR THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST WILL FACE ETERNAL JUDGMENT. AND REMEMBER YOU ARE ALIVE TODAY AND HERE TODAY OR LISTENING TODAY BY GOD'S GRACE. AND IT IS ONLY GOD'S MERCY THAT SEPARATES YOU FROM HELL TODAY IF YOU ARE WITHOUT CHRIST.

3. ONE FINAL SPURGEON QUOTE AND I'LL PRAY: "YOU ARE HANGING OVER THE MOUTH OF HELL BY A SINGLE THREAD, AND THAT THREAD IS BREAKING. ONLY A GASP FOR BREATH, ONLY A STOPPING OF THE HEART FOR A SINGLE MOMENT AND YOU WILL BE IN AN ETERNAL WORLD, WITHOUT GOD, WITHOUT HOPE, WITHOUT FORGIVENESS. OH, CAN YOU FACE IT?"

* FRIENDS IT'S EITHER REPENT OR PERISH. (LET'S PRAY)