WEBVTT 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:13.919 Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.440 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:21.199 Thank you for listening. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.679 Thank you all for singing incredibly beautifully and with passion. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.960 It's great to be in a church that sings, so thank you for that. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:39.600 Hey, listen, um, we're going to start a new series today that we're going to go from now till Easter, and we're calling it uh Lessons from the Cross. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:51.920 And so last week we talked about Jesus teaching his disciples, this is how we're going to build the church, and I'm going to build it by building up and using you as those stones we talked about last week. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.920 And then he began to tell them, I am going to go to the cross, and there I am going to accomplish the gospel. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.920 I'm going to die on the cross to pay the price for sin. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.840 I'm going to be resurrected again to offer salvation and forgiveness of sins. 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:09.200 And so he started that. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:19.599 So we're now going to pick up and we're going to start each week here in Luke chapter 23, and we're going to use as a picture Jesus on the cross with those thieves on either side. 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:21.200 Now, why are we doing that? 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:26.400 Because of the salvation we've been singing about all morning and how people need Jesus. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:35.439 And last week, since we talked about the way Jesus builds his church, is he builds us as his body and sends us out to do that. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:41.439 We're going to work on that as a church and have an emphasis leading into Easter. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:49.439 So there are two things I'm going to want you to pick up out in the four-year area or out in the visitor area out there. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:50.799 We have a lot of them out there. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:51.920 There are two things. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.599 The first thing is a card for your love list. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:03.120 If you are not praying through your love list, then you need to get a card, fill it out, have it there where you can be praying on that. 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:04.480 So what is a love list? 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:10.879 Well, that is three people that God has placed in your life that you know need to be saved. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:15.439 And you're praying for three people, and you're praying three things. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:22.319 And they are reminded here on the card, you are praying for an opportunity to invite them to church. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:29.039 You are praying for an opportunity to share your salvation testimony, and you are praying for them to be saved. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:32.639 So you have three people that you're praying three things. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:37.520 And it's great just to, you may know them, but it's great to write them down, to have it there. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:39.680 Say, Pastor, I struggle with that. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:53.120 Sharing salvation sometimes on the back of that card is a Q card QR code that will take you to the Evangelism Explosion online training that we made available to you back in the fall. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.199 And so as a reminder, it's there to help you and encourage you in that journey. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:02.639 And so we're going to ask everyone to pick that up, pick up your love lists, fill it out, and be praying for that. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:07.360 And we're going to be focusing on especially inviting them to church for Easter. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:15.840 Now I want to tell you, for all the rest of us, the student ministry is already ahead of us, and we're playing catch up. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:24.240 They have been working on their list and they have all laid out, starting with one person, that they're praying for, they're inviting. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.240 We've already had students who've brought people to church or on Wednesday nights. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:29.680 We've had some saved. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.000 Our students are doing incredible. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:35.039 And so I just want to brag on you guys for doing that. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:45.439 And that means the rest of y'all, y'all got to get busy and catch up because they're ahead, okay? 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:51.039 Now the second thing we've made available for you, and we've had these requests, and so it's a great idea. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:52.560 So we've stepped into that. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:04:00.000 You'll find this little rubber band collection of, I think there are ten of these in each rubber band deal. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:07.520 And this has the theme for Easter Sunday on the front, and the theme is Resurrection Changes Everything Forever. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:12.639 And on the back is the information about our worship services for Easter Sunday. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.840 And so you can hand these out just like business cards. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:22.879 When you invite someone, whether it's your love list or you just run into somebody in the community, this makes it easy. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:29.600 So I want everybody to pick these up, have these available, and use them to invite someone to church. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:30.800 Are y'all with me? 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:31.600 Yes, sir. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:33.839 You're thinking, Pastor, this is spring break. 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.959 Somebody didn't tell you it's a vacation and you're putting us to work. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:38.800 So here's what we're going to do. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:39.600 We're going to do that. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:43.120 Why are we doing this and why do we have that emphasis? 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.600 First of all, because we're commanded to. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:51.439 And this is how Jesus said he would use us as his body to go out and to spread the gospel. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.600 But the second reason is because of the message of Easter. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:05.600 Jesus went to the cross because we are condemned to death and eternity because of our sin. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:15.839 We also are doing it because we have the antidote to that struggle, the victory over death and sin. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:31.279 The good news of salvation that changes that eternal trajectory from judgment to forgiveness and salvation because of Jesus our Savior. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:39.120 And so we're going to look at some lessons from the cross that lay that out for us between now and Easter. 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:46.800 So if you're there in your Bible in Luke 23, I want you to follow along with me. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:53.680 We are about to see Jesus in the Luke history description of it, nailed to the cross. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:00.240 Verse 32, two others, criminals, were also led away to be executed with him. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:10.639 And when they arrived at the place called the Skull, they crucified Jesus there, along with the criminals, one on the right side, one on the left side. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:16.879 Then from the cross, Jesus said, Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.480 And they divided his clothes and cast lots. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:26.480 Verse 35, the people stood watching, and even the leaders kept scoffing. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:27.920 So get the picture. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.160 Jesus is hung on this cross. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:33.199 You hang a thief on a criminal on either side. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:35.279 And that word thief, we use that word. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:40.639 We think of two thieves on the cross, but the original word of that is a violent criminal. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.399 And so these criminals condemned to death are on either side. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:59.040 People are watching this because of the fame of Jesus, because of the work of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to accuse Jesus and all of that, try to end what they believed was his heretical ministry, claiming to be the Messiah. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.120 They did not believe he was that one. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:09.439 And so now they're down there stirring up the crowd and they're mocking Jesus, scoffing from the ground, looking up at him on the cross. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:10.800 He saved others. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:15.439 Let him save himself if this is God's Messiah, the chosen one. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:19.600 In other words, they do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:27.120 They do not believe his statements that he would be resurrected from the dead to accomplish salvation. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.399 Bible says in verse 36, the soldiers also mocked him. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:35.120 They came offering him sour wine and said, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.560 And an inscription was placed, a sign over his head on his cross. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:42.720 This is the king of the Jews. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:46.639 And so it is mocking Jesus in the way they did that. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:51.360 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at Jesus. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:53.759 Aren't you the Messiah? 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.639 Save yourself and us. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.360 I mean, he's mocking him. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:01.040 Now picture this. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:11.360 Here is a criminal, a hardened criminal, who's been nailed to a cross, sentenced to die there on that cross. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:21.519 If you know anything about that deal hanging on a cross, they drove those nails into your arms and into your feet so that you hung there. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:42.960 And in essence, when your gravity pulls your body down, one of the ways that you died, what contributed to your death was you suffocated because of all the pain and trauma that you're in, and then your body is collapsed, and so your lungs are collapsed on itself, and with all the other trauma and all that, you many times they suffocated there on the cross. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.720 And what would happen is they would pull themselves up. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:50.559 Can you imagine the energy required to do that? 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:53.360 The pain involved in that. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:02.080 You're fighting for breath, you pull yourself up, you gasp for breath, and then you fall back down. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:09.120 And if you've seen images of that, that's what that looks like as they pull themselves up, as they gasp for breath. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:28.000 And here is this man dying in that fashion, and he is so angry, bitter, afraid, whatever you want to attach to him, that he spends his last breaths mocking Jesus on the cross. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:33.279 But the other thief on the other side, he rebukes the other thief. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.759 Now again, picture all of this chaos going on around them. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:43.120 And this man fighting for his breath as he pulls himself up. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:52.159 He uses that precious breath to scream at the other man and to tell him, don't you even fear God? 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.320 Since you're undergoing the same punishment. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.120 We are punished justly. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:06.559 And I imagine in a speech this long, he can't do that all in one breath because of the condition he's in. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:10.000 He falls back down and he pulls himself up again. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:16.240 We are punished justly because we're getting back what we deserve for what we did. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:19.200 This man has done no wrong. 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.039 He falls back down. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:29.440 He pulls himself back up, and this time he screams to Jesus and he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:31.360 And he falls back down. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:40.720 And then the Bible says, Jesus, fighting for his own breath, pulls himself up. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:46.240 And he says, I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:51.120 An incredible picture on the cross. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.799 This is one of the most powerful images in my mind and heart. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:03.679 One of the things that I look to and go to is Jesus hung between these two men, pronounces forgiveness on everyone for what they're doing to him. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:23.279 And this man hanging on this cross, again, another hardened, violent criminal, sentenced to death, dying in this moment, when he looks at Jesus, he doesn't see Jesus riding on a donkey into the city on Palm Sunday with branches and shouting crowds and all that. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:35.200 He doesn't see Jesus at his greatest and at his strength when he says, Lazarus, come forth, and he calls him out of the tomb and brings him back to life. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.080 He sees Jesus dying. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:43.279 He sees Jesus from a human perspective failing. 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:53.279 He sees Jesus, Jesus' enemies have accomplished their purpose of lying about him, having him convicted, hung on the cross. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:12:02.000 They are finishing him and his threat to their view of Jewish religion and power and all of that. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.799 What he sees is Jesus and everyone else is mocking him. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:19.519 And this man is so moved by how Jesus has gone through this process of being crucified that it calls him to the person of Jesus as his savior. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:29.279 In the moment when you think Jesus is failing, this man sees Jesus as his savior. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:32.720 And isn't that true? 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:58.000 Jesus' greatest strength and victory and work for us was that he took that man's sins, the sins of the soldiers who nailed him to the cross, the sins of the other criminal who is mocking him, my sins, your sins, the strength of Jesus spiritually and physically to take our sins to the cross and there die in our place. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:00.799 So his death could be a substitute for ours. 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:04.480 In that moment, Jesus is focused on his purpose. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:06.559 He says, Father, forgive them. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.320 They don't know what they're doing. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:15.440 There on that cross, he went to that cross to save that criminal from his sins. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:17.200 And to save us as well. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:19.840 And he speaks in that moment. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:22.399 Today you'll be with me in paradise. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:27.120 What is it that calls to us out of this passage of Scripture? 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:35.679 Well, the first thing I want you to see, the first lesson that we're going to look at this week, is about judgment, death, and hell. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:43.360 This man is hanging there on that cross with a clear sense of guilt. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:49.840 He hollers to that other thief in front of witnesses and everyone, we deserve to be here. 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:54.799 He has got the regret of a life not well lived. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:58.480 He has got the guilt of what he's done to other people. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:04.159 He has an understanding of his failure as a man and his sin. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:09.679 And he understands that I am in this moment because of what I've done. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.240 He says very clearly, I am being judged for what I've done. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.080 But here's another deal. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:34.159 Whether it is hanging on a cross or whether it's in a hospital or whatever the situation may be, when we face the end of our physical lives, there is always a question of what happens next. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:53.279 In every culture that has ever lived or built a civilization on our planet, on any continent, in any epoch of time, there is always the question of what does death mean and what happens to us when we die and what happens after that. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:15:05.840 If you go study archaeology or go to a museum or however you want to do that, every culture, they do things like bury them with food and resources for the afterlife. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.279 And they sacrifice things in order for them. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:23.519 They try to find ways to do penance for the sins and the misdeeds of the one who died to try to figure out a way to project something forward into eternity that would help them in some way. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:32.000 Every culture in every epoch of time has always dealt with this existential question of what happens to me in this moment. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:38.399 And in this moment, we see that question raised in this man's life. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:52.080 And it is no different today for anyone else facing the finality and the eternity and the reality of death and of judgment than it was for this man hanging on this cross. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:58.879 So I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 20, and we're going to see what it means. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.639 And while you're turning, I just want you to listen to this verse. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:15.039 We uh, as happens in our church life, we've recently had some wonderful saints who love Jesus who've gone to be in heaven. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:20.399 And recently, in one of them, a family member shared this testimony. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:26.080 The person who was a part of our church, who loved the Lord, had a great testimony, served in church. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:40.960 Many of you were even at this at this ceremony, facing death, understood it was coming, talked to his family member, and he said, This listen, I want you to know, because I know Jesus, I've got no fear. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:43.600 I've got no worry. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.240 And then he shared this verse from Hebrews chapter 2. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:17:12.240 Since the children have flesh and blood in common, since we are flesh and blood human people that live and die, Jesus shared in flesh and blood with us, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:25.200 Listen, what we're about to talk to about with judgment and hell and all of that, listen, Jesus came to bring an end to the fear of these things. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:34.880 We have to talk about them because they are the reality, and God's word tells us that it is real, that there is judgment for sin. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:38.799 The Bible says the wages of sin is death. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:47.519 Death happens physically because of sin, but it happens spiritually because of sin, and there is an end. 00:17:47.839 --> 00:18:24.400 And there is a move all over culture today, as it has been in many generations, to try to eliminate hell or make it less than what it is, or say there's not a hell, or say that because God is so loving and he sent Jesus, you know, you you have a chance here to get saved and you blow it and you don't get saved, but there'll be some other opportunity because Jesus is not gonna lose, you know, because he's Jesus, and so he's you're gonna get another opportunity to get saved, and everybody's gonna get saved, and you have all this kind of weird, aberrant theology from what Scripture says. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.880 And so I want you to see this morning the reality of judgment and hell. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:39.200 Revelation chapter 20, beginning in verse 10, tells us what the final judgment looks like. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:54.000 Verse 10 says this the devil who deceived them, who deceived all these people and all that, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:59.119 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.720 That is Jesus. 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:08.000 Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:15.039 No one can hide from the judgment that Jesus ultimately will stand in. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:23.839 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:32.960 Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.359 Remember what the man on the cross said. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.920 I know what my deeds are, and I'm being punished for those. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:49.519 Verse 13, then the sea gave up its dead, and death and Hades gave up all their dead, and all were judged according to their works. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.319 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:20:03.119 This is the second death, the lake of fire, and anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:09.039 Revelation 21, if you'll just turn over a page there, verse eight. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:26.319 The cowards, unbelievers, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexual immorality, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:33.759 That is the clear speaking of God's word. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:38.880 And so what he says is listen, there's no second chance. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:44.319 There's no everybody wins and there's no hell or anything else. 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:49.599 He paints a very clear picture of the reality of judgment and hell. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.680 And so the first truth I need you to see this morning is that is just that. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:04.240 How many times do you see the word all, all, all, all? 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.119 Look at what he says in verse 12. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.599 I saw the dead, the great, and the small. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:17.920 It says in verse 15, well, let's look in verse 13. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:23.359 Hades, death, and Hades gave up their dead, all were judged according to their works. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:30.400 Verse 15, and anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown in the lake of fire. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:38.799 It is a reality that people die, and it is a reality that they will end up in one of two places. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:46.400 Revelation chapter 21, which we'll look at next week, when Jesus said to the man, today you'll be with me in paradise. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:50.319 We're going to look at heaven in chapter 21 of Revelation next week. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:58.880 But you first have to understand that all of us are sinners by birth, by nature, and by choice, and a holy God must judge that sin. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:09.039 Here in this life, we have an opportunity to find the means of salvation that Jesus has provided when he died for us on the cross. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.960 And make no mistake, Jesus took the full wrath and punishment of God on the cross. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:24.720 He paid the full punishment and price required for every person who would face this judgment. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:46.400 And then when Jesus rose again, conquering death and sin, what happens is you come and you trust in his life, in his death, in his resurrection, and you repent of your sin and you acknowledge that you are facing that judgment, and you place your trust in Jesus and what he did on the cross to pay the price for your sin. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:55.039 And salvation is a spiritual exchange where I have given him my sin and he has given me his righteousness. 00:22:55.279 --> 00:23:10.480 And what happens is I am acknowledging him as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and He is God, and He is the creator God, and He has the right to make the rules, and He has the right to judge sin, and He sits in that position and will judge. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:22.079 But I am also acknowledging that He is gracious and went to the cross and took His own punishment for me, which is why I like beginning this with Jesus on the cross. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:28.400 So you never forget that Jesus did this Himself for us. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:38.960 And then when our bodies physically die, we face a spiritual judgment. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:42.559 Who is going to pay the price for our sin? 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:47.039 Have I given my life to Jesus and trusted Him to do it? 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:50.319 Or am I going to do it? 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:56.400 But all of us face the reality of death and judgment. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:24:13.359 When you have that sense of guilt that occurs in your life, a conscience that happens, God has built those things in us as a part of that calling for us to understand that this matters, it matters ultimately, and it matters eternally. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:26.079 In today's world, we talk about death and hell and Jesus conquered that and all of that, but I also want to make sure that we understand that hell is real, and these are not euphemisms. 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:28.960 It's not pastor talk. 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:32.000 That it's real. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:34.079 It is real. 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:35.759 Truth number two. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:39.119 Then what is hell? 00:24:39.519 --> 00:24:42.079 The reality of judgment is hell. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:46.559 Now there's a couple of terms in here I just want to run through really fast. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:51.759 There's a lot of theology in this, there's a lot to unpack in all these things. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:25:00.640 But ultimately, what I'm trying to get to is the same existential question that we all ask that that thief on the cross asked. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:06.400 I'm going to die, and I know there's judgment for what I've done. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:08.799 And Jesus, can you forgive me? 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:14.000 And so what Scripture teaches us is that the reality of judgment is hell. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.079 Now that word is a very specific word in Scripture. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:20.559 Now we all live in a time frame. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:22.640 We have a yesterday, a day, and a tomorrow. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:26.240 We have a back in the past, we have a now, and we have in the future. 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:28.160 So we live in things like this. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:34.240 We love the days when the Razorbacks used to play basketball and they won national championships. 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:36.319 We live in the past. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:43.839 We try to avoid the current, and we look forward to the day when we will get back, right? 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.200 We have a yesterday, a today, and a tomorrow. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:52.160 And as we're trying to unpack these things, the scripture tries to teach us how this works. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:26:02.960 And so he uses the idea of Hades as, if you will, a picture of what happens to someone who dies before Jesus comes back again. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:05.759 Now, again, it's very complicated. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:07.200 There's a lot of theology to this. 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:14.799 What you know is if you are saved, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians this to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:19.599 And if you know Jesus as your Savior, you know you will spend an eternity in heaven. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:28.400 And if you do not know Jesus as your Savior and you die before that happens, you know that you will face this judgment. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:36.400 And hell represents the eternal judgment of being separated from God forever. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:40.720 And so what he says is listen, no one is going to escape this moment. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:43.359 You don't have to be physically alive in this moment. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:48.319 If you died beforehand, death in Hades gave up. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:53.279 The sea gave up its people, and everyone is judged. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:27:03.759 And so what we need to understand ultimately and most importantly is that there is that final judgment, and there is one question. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:07.440 Who's paying for your sin? 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:16.079 And the only way to get into heaven is when you say, Jesus paid it all. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:19.039 And all to him I owe. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:32.319 I am not entitled to be in heaven, but Jesus has paid the way for me to be in heaven, and I've made him my Lord and my Savior, and so I get in because of Jesus. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:38.960 Hell is that ultimate separation from God that is the ultimate judgment for our sin. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:41.440 The Bible's very clear about that. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:42.880 Now, what is hell? 00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:44.240 What does it mean for us? 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:47.920 Well, there are several things that are pictured here for us. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:53.359 It is the complete absence of the presence of God or of hope or of grace. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:55.200 Look at what he says. 00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:03.519 They are thrown into the lake of fire, and then in chapter 21, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:11.039 Verse 2, I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down on heaven from God, prepared like a bride, adorned for her husband. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.960 And so what happens is, we'll see next week this picture of heaven. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:23.519 What happens is you are separated from God forever, and you are sent to what he calls the lake of fire, or what we would say is hell. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:28.640 And your judgment is forever you are separated from the presence of God. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:35.920 You are separated from any hope that you might find forgiveness or comfort or grace. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:53.039 We talk about being without hope or hopelessness, but we do not understand what that truly means until for all of eternity we are ultimately separated, that this horrible condition will always be and will never change. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:55.839 No one can buy us out of it. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:57.920 No one can come get us. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:02.799 No one can do something that we are forgiven and it changes. 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:04.960 We are not given a second choice. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:08.799 We are cast away from the presence of God forever. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:20.720 Even in this life, if you're sinning, if you're doing whatever you're doing, there is still somewhere in the back of your mind that this could change, or I could make a decision later, or I could do something different. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:24.880 There is still this chance of hope, this chance of grace. 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:31.200 There is the illusion that I can be in control of my life and I can change this and I can make things better, I can do whatever. 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:51.920 Man, when you are in hell and you are separated from the presence and the person of God, there is no such thing as hope, there is no such thing as grace, and there is nothing but separation from God and fear and hopelessness and failure. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:05.200 If you think about what the Bible tells us in Genesis, God made Adam and Eve in a special way, and he made us in his image, and he made this beautiful garden for us to live in. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:20.079 And our purpose was to walk in the presence of God, to love him and to receive his love, to enjoy what he had created for us, to be fruitful and multiply and accomplish through his grace and to return to him as a gift. 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:23.039 And all of this is what God created. 00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:25.839 We are created to be in his presence. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:37.039 And immediately when Adam and Eve sinned, you know the story, they're cast out of the garden, and death entered into the world, and they died, and their children died, and all of us faced death because of that sin. 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:46.799 But when God made this, there was this joy of being with him and purpose and accomplishing who we were meant to be by being in God's presence. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:59.519 My incredible lack of eloquence to try to explain the horror of hell, the best I can do is this. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:36.880 If you take the opposite of being in the Garden of Eden and being in God's presence, and the joy of being in his presence and fulfilling the purpose for which we were created, and all of that, when you are judged to hell, you are confronted with the reality that you were wrong in your life, and you will never be in his presence, be who he had created you to be, or do what he had designed for you to do. 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:43.200 You're separated from God, and it is an experience. 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:55.759 Look at what the Bible says, it repeats in verse 10 the devil who deceived him was thrown into the lake of fire, and he describes it here as a picture, fire and sulfur. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:58.240 How many of you have been to Yellowstone? 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:01.279 And you go there and you get the geysers? 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:05.440 Okay, who wants to live that way forever? 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:07.039 It's awful. 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:08.000 It's awful. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:11.440 It's caustic, it's terrible, it stinks, it's all those things. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:12.559 Look at what he says. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:24.319 He is describing for us a picture of he's trying to communicate in ways that words only create a faint understanding of how terrible it is. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:27.440 The lake of fire and sulfur. 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:33.200 And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:37.519 Again in verse 21, how he repeats it in verse 8. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:42.559 Their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is a second death. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:45.759 And so what he's trying to explain to us is there's an experience. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:49.119 You know, pastors have been being asked these questions for years. 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:50.720 Is it actual fire? 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:53.440 Is that an illustration or whatever? 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.480 And I was listening to my pastor where I grew up, Dr. 00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:01.920 Aegan Rogers, this week, and he was describing this, and here's the illustration he gave, and I thought it was incredible. 00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:07.759 He said, Listen, the painting is never as real as the reality. 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:20.240 You paint a picture of a sunrise because you want to capture the beauty of it, but you can never capture the fullness of it. 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:32.960 You paint a picture of Niagara Falls, and it's incredible, and you see, and the artist tries to capture the mist and the power and the majesty and all of that, but the painting never reaches the reality. 00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:49.279 God is trying to paint a picture for us here, and whether it's actual fire or it feels like burning in the torment, the picture never can capture the full reality. 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:52.640 It is an experience for eternity. 00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:54.640 The Bible says forever. 00:33:55.680 --> 00:33:59.519 It is an experience itself, day and night, forever. 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:02.880 You are aware in heaven of what's happening. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:06.640 How else could you be tormented and understand what was happening? 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:08.880 How could you understand the loss? 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:13.760 You have to be aware to understand the nature of that judgment. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:16.400 And it is one of torment. 00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:23.519 I don't know how to explain it any more clearly than Scripture itself. 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:29.440 But the reality of judgment is an eternity spent in hell as described in Scripture. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:50.159 You'll hear things like there's a theory called aneneism, where some preachers have decided that this is just too awful, and so they try to manufacture some deal that when we die and there's judgment that you're done away with, like that you're ended forever. 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:55.920 The Bible describes it as an experience that lasts day and night forever. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:04.960 The idea that somehow there is another opportunity to get saved at this moment is foreclosed in this scripture. 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:10.719 There are only two categories, heaven and hell. 00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:21.199 And so when we deal with the reality and judgment of hell, as depressing as that is to hear that, it is the most loving thing we can do to explain the reality of it. 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:26.400 Sometimes people will say, you know, it just can't be that bad. 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:29.119 Well, we've just read Scripture. 00:35:29.360 --> 00:35:30.880 But here's the other truth. 00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:36.639 What we know about Scripture is that God speaks to us and warns us and tells us of it. 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:44.960 Jesus spoke about hell and described it in these same terms, and he warned us about it because he wants to save us from it. 00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:47.199 Jesus came and he died on the cross. 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:55.280 Again, start with the picture of the man's fear of death, his understanding of guilt, and this is the end, and I'm facing this. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:02.960 And he turns to Jesus, who is dying for him on the cross, and says, please forgive me. 00:36:03.199 --> 00:36:09.039 And Jesus says, Today you will be with me in paradise. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:13.119 Jesus went to that cross for that man. 00:36:13.920 --> 00:36:18.079 So the fear that he faced would not be realized. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:23.760 And he could spend an eternity in heaven instead of hell. 00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:32.480 And so God has explained to us in Scripture how it works and what it looks like and what it is because he is calling us to a response. 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:35.360 And so let me give you just quickly three responses. 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:37.440 They're obvious and simple. 00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:41.519 The first is repentance and trust in Jesus Christ. 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:49.440 That man repented of his sin on the cross and he said, I deserve to be here, and I know I need to be judged for my sin. 00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:51.119 And he turned to Jesus. 00:36:51.280 --> 00:36:59.760 And with all the faith that he could muster, as a man who had lived the life that he had lived, he looked at Jesus and he said, No one has ever looked like that. 00:36:59.920 --> 00:37:02.000 No one has ever died like that before. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:07.119 No one has ever hung on that cross and taken that abuse and said, Father, forgive them. 00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:13.599 He saw something different in Jesus that he had never seen before or heard of in his lifetime. 00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:18.639 And he turned to Jesus and he said, Please remember me. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:22.559 And Jesus said, Today you'll be with me in paradise. 00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:32.000 Jesus died for us and he explained the gospel to us so that you could be saved. 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:37.119 Sometimes people will ask, trying to fight against the truth of these things. 00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:45.280 How could you say your God is loving if he's going to judge people and send them to that horrible of a description that you just described? 00:37:45.599 --> 00:37:49.440 Listen, our sin sends us to judgment. 00:37:50.719 --> 00:37:53.920 In his holiness, he has to accomplish that judgment. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:58.239 But here's what the Bible says Jesus himself said this to you. 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:06.559 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him will never perish. 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:09.679 But have everlasting life. 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:39.119 And I plead with you, if you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, trust him as your savior. 00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:56.079 The second response: if you know Christ is your Savior, sometimes we get comfortable in life and we're doing what we're doing, and we're working through the tyranny of the urgent and all of that. 00:38:56.400 --> 00:39:05.519 And we forget that we have been radically and graciously saved because of what Jesus has done. 00:39:06.239 --> 00:39:11.840 That Jesus experienced the full wrath and punishment of God so that we would not have to. 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:16.159 And when you gave your life to Him, you were saved from hell. 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:21.920 As he says in Hebrews, you were saved from the slavery of the fear of death. 00:39:22.320 --> 00:39:29.440 We live a life that is filled because of what Jesus has done and the magnitude of his grace. 00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:33.119 We got to live differently. 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:41.760 You cannot go about life as the rest of everybody lives it. 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:49.440 If you have been radically saved by Savior who went through what he went through. 00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:54.480 You picture yourself hanging on the cross for your sin next to Jesus. 00:39:54.639 --> 00:40:02.079 And when Jesus there dies in front of you, but before he does, he says, You are saved and you will be with me in heaven. 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:07.519 That has got to call us to a different level of faith and living. 00:40:09.760 --> 00:40:11.199 Do we give? 00:40:11.519 --> 00:40:12.800 Do we serve? 00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:14.559 Do we pray? 00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:22.000 Are we involved like we have been graciously saved from an eternity in hell? 00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:25.280 And it challenges us to different. 00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:28.480 And then we must share good news. 00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:33.519 This love list. 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:38.000 These are folks that God put you in their path. 00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:42.320 Our guys went to an evangelism conference. 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:47.840 Our staff guys went to an evangelism conference put on by the Arkansas Baptist Convention a few weeks ago. 00:40:48.079 --> 00:40:56.320 And one of them, just to paraphrase a story as we were talking about this, reminded me that one of the guys shared a story about someone he worked with. 00:40:56.639 --> 00:41:01.760 And he he got all excited because his friend found Jesus and his friend got saved. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:07.119 And they're celebrating, and it's like a, I got a new brother in Christ, and I'm excited, and this is awesome. 00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:08.079 He got saved. 00:41:08.239 --> 00:41:16.880 And as his friend began to understand more what happened to him when he got saved, he comes back and he says, Hey, listen, I've learned, I mean, I'm really understanding now. 00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:20.880 If Jesus hadn't saved me, I'd have gone to hell. 00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:24.480 I mean, hell is it's like really that, right? 00:41:24.639 --> 00:41:26.480 And guy says, Yeah, it really is. 00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:32.719 You knew I was going to hell? 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:39.360 When were you gonna tell me how to be saved? 00:41:45.519 --> 00:41:49.440 2 Corinthians chapter 5 says this. 00:41:49.599 --> 00:41:50.639 Just listen. 00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:53.199 Write it in the margin if you want. 00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:57.599 2 Corinthians chapter 5, if I can find it in my Bible. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:00.400 Some of y'all find it faster than I will. 00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:03.039 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:07.519 He's talking about this process of dying and living. 00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:14.239 Here's what he says in verse 10, for we must all appear before the tribunal of Christ. 00:42:14.400 --> 00:42:17.920 That's what was just we just read about and was described. 00:42:18.559 --> 00:42:25.760 So that each may be repaid for what he has done in the flesh, whether good or worthless. 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:38.880 Therefore, therefore, because of the existence of the tribunal of Christ, because of the existence of that judgment, because of the existence of this question that everyone has to face. 00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:41.679