And You Thought the First Death Was Bad

Let's pray.

Speak Lord your servants are listening.

Please show us now your ways so that we may gain Christ and be found in him not having a

righteousness of our own.

That comes from the law.

But that which comes through faith in Christ your word is a lamp to our feet and a light into our path.

So give us life.

Oh Lord according to your word, and we will declare your greatness in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Before we get into our Bible study day, let me ask the question.

Were there any questions that came up as a result of the biblical text we were working through in our

sermon today?

Let's let's take a look at our context.

I know exactly what you're talking about.

And if this is one of those texts that does lend itself towards creating more questions and giving answers

initially and so what's in the Gospel of John chapter 20.

Gospel of John chapter 20 and Here's what it says.

I'll start at verse 20.

It says this when he Jesus had said this he showed them his hands and his side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord Jesus said to they get said to them again.

Peace be with you as the Father has sent me even so I am sending you now.

You're gonna note what's going on here.

This is not the reception of the Holy Spirit for the preaching of the gospel.

This is their ordination into the apostolic office.

So watch what's happening as the Father has sent me even so I am sending you if you could see it in the

Greek.

It's actually quite stark as to what's going on.

Remember, they're called Apostles.

And so here we see the Greek the Greek verb Apostello in play.

I am sending you you are my apostles.

And so this is like their their ordination into the apostleship and so when he had said this

he breathed on them and said received the Holy Spirit and now you have the office of the Keys if you forgive

the sins of any they are forgiven them if you withhold forgiveness from any it is withheld.

Right, so receive the Holy Spirit.

So you're gonna note that when you when you read from here all the way into the book of Acts then too You're gonna note

that that the Holy Spirit comes.

With particular things to do in this case the Holy Spirit is given for the the

establishing of the apostolic office the giving of the keys and kind of the these guys are now the

nucleus of what will become the church and they are to stay into Jerusalem until The

Jesus sends the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit of purpose.

Empowering then the preaching of the gospel.

Here we have the establishing of the office of the keys which is given to the church first in the Apostles and now to the church As a whole

and then when the Holy Spirit shows up at the day of Pentecost now They are given power and miraculous signs

for the purpose of preaching the gospel.

But then when you read just a couple of chapters later in the book of Acts You will see again that the disciples actually pray

for boldness and they receive kind of another Indwelling of the Holy Spirit and so you'll note that

oftentimes people kind of think In terms of the Holy Spirit is kind of like a one and done

type of thing.

Which is not really the right way of looking at it.

Is that over and again?

We recognize that the Holy Spirit is given for specific reasons specific purpose for

us as Christians in the indwelling spirit convicts us of our sins the.

Yep, exactly.

Right.

That's good.

Yeah, that's a really good.

That's a good mnemonic very good and so and so, you know, then then in the preaching then the Holy Spirit and the gifts that are given

are for the purpose of convicting people of their sins and bringing the penitent faith in Christ

and then those who are Baptized and dwell with the Holy Spirit.

They also receive gifts from God.

And so the gifts of God are for the purpose of building up the church and then on our daily

walk.

We often find ourselves in all kinds of struggles.

And so then you can see then that the Holy Spirit is that God they pray to God.

Please give us boldness in the face of this persecution.

And then the the room that they're in is shaking and they're again filled with the Holy Spirit.

So the idea is is that there's kind of a constant need for the Holy Spirit in our lives in that sense

I would Think of it this way is is that the Holy Spirit has different tasks that he's been given to do

and so in this case We have the ordination into the apostolic office now I am sending you boys so

they're receiving the Holy Spirit for this purpose and then the emphasis is then on the office of the keys because remember as.

The church itself has been given a very specific task and the task given by the church is

to make disciples Baptizing in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Teaching all that Christ has commanded take our gospel text from today.

Proclaim repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

This is this is the idea.

So think of it this way is that we right now are gathering at a place called Kongsvinger Lutheran Church.

But that's the name on the building my question for you would be real quick is what is the church.

What is the church?

We is right.

We are the church where we gather is immaterial so like if there was an earthquake here in North

Dakota and the whole and the whole building fell down because I don't know if This is built to California Code.

So, you know, I know about earthquakes.

Okay.

Not helpful, okay, remember I have a cane anyway.

So so if there was big earthquake in the end and the church were to crumble would Kongsvinger as a

congregation cease to exist.

Oh, no.

In fact, if I understand the history of this congregation correctly.

There was a time when there was an original building where the where the church gathered that and it burned

down and then this was Rebuilt.

This is not the first.

This is not the first building on this property, right?

Okay, which is why I think we have electric candles rather than the other kind.

But but you get the idea.

So if something terrible were to happen to the building the church still exists.

We are the church and so as the church we have been given a task.

We what is our job?

What's our marching orders?

Baptize make disciples.

Yep.

So then if you if we were to do an annual evaluation on ourselves as a church.

What what should we be looking at?

How are we doing in?

The making disciples.

Task that's what we're given to do.

That's you know, think of it this way.

It is that every time we preach the gospel and somebody's brought dependence and faith in Christ.

That is the church reproducing itself.

That's the church reproducing itself.

So when you hear in the in the book of Genesis where God says be fruitful and multiply.

Now we understand how human procreation works, but the church in order for it to continue on has

to make Christians we have to know where Christians come from and so Christians come through the proclamation of

Christ and him crucified for our sins.

And once they're brought in and their baby Christians, we've got to change their diapers.

We've got to catechize them bring them up in the faith so they may become mature.

And then take their place in the congregation as leaders and then then reproduce themselves

with the next generation.

That's kind of the idea and so the church itself is given power by the Holy Spirit

for the purpose of proclamation of Christ for the forgiveness of sins for Regenerating people from the dead

equipping us to build the church up and serve one another in love.

So there's all these different aspects that the Holy Spirit is working and sometimes when you see the Holy Spirit Kind of piecemealed

out the emphasis is going to be on a particular task that the Holy Spirit is doing.

And so the thing is is that we need the Holy Spirit.

Every single day of our lives if we do not have the Spirit.

There's just no way that we're gonna be able to bear the fruit of the Spirit.

What I find fascinating is is that one of the critiques that congregations like ours?

Suffer at the hands of people who do not have a good understanding of the Holy Spirit is they'll say that we somehow deny

the Holy Spirit, but that's not the case at all.

You know, they're we.

I Couldn't go a day without the Holy Spirit.

And if I did I'm toast literally I mean that I'd be like a guy going out on the battlefield without armor.

I mean good night.

That's not that's not gonna end.

Well, so the question then is is that what is the Holy Spirit given to do?

And so when people end up pointing you back to the Holy Spirit and as if somehow the Holy Spirit and the

Manifestations of the Spirit are the big thing.

They've missed the whole point.

The Holy Spirit is always kind of like Jesus's PR guy, you know.

So, you know if you think you know in the pagan world.

This is kind of a weird metaphor.

But in the pagan world, you know somebody who's like a rock star or a famous actor or whatever.

They oftentimes will have a PR person and that the whole purpose of that PR person is to tell you how amazing that rock

star Is or to book gigs for that person or get get them on television programs.

So everybody can know how great they are and you rarely if ever find out who the name of the PR person is for that

for.

That celebrity the Holy Spirit oftentimes works in those ways because when Jesus sends the Holy Spirit

He's the one who testifies about Christ he's the one who bears witness to Christ and even the miracles that are

wrought by the Holy Spirit are for the purpose of Pointing people to Jesus and so when you got the

Holy Spirit and doing miracles to point people to the Holy Spirit.

That doesn't sound like the Holy Spirit to me that sounds like a different spirit.

So I did that answer your question that we went on a little securitist route there.

Yeah.

But you already kind of had with that little mnemonic device you had a lot of the ideas of what the Holy Spirit does in The first place but then

a little bit of a grammar note here.

I pointed this out before but worth repeating again.

Is that you're gonna note that the office of the keys here are given then to the church.

Receive the Holy Spirit if you forgive the sins of any and the way the Greek verb words They are already

forgiven them super important.

Because the idea is is that Greek has a funny way of working with tenses and this is a great tense so if you

forgive the sins of any they will have already been forgiven them and so when you hear

a Christian and I say it that way not just a pastor because not only pastors can give an absolution

when you hear a Christian.

Give an absolution when somebody confesses their sins seeking forgiveness from God and that Christian says You know in

the place of Christ I forgive you all of your sins.

The forgiveness isn't coming from the pastor or from the Christian because the verb tenses make it clear.

They're already forgiven them so every single Sunday when we gather and you confess your sins and

we all do this together and you hear the Pastor and it's important to say this not me when you hear the pastor

speaking and he says I forgive you all of your sins.

He's not technically doing the forgiving.

Because the verb tense says you will have already been forgiven so the best way to think about

it is is that first and foremost all of your sins were bled and died

for on the cross period and so ultimately it's everything's gonna have its anchor in the

cross and The thing is is that we can't go back to the cross.

You can't go back.

I mean, we don't have a TARDIS.

We couldn't travel back and the whole point is is that the cross is not the place where the forgiveness of sins is Distributed

the cross is the place where the sins of forgiven is sins of forgiveness of sins is one.

That's where it's secured for us.

It is delivered in the ordinary means of Word and sacrament.

So when the pastor says I forgive you all of your sins understand he's doing so as one who is authorized to

say this on behalf of Christ not because he's Really stuck on himself.

And if you have a pastor who's stuck on himself thinking that somehow the power to forgive sins resides in himself.

Time for a new pastor that that guy is a taco short of a combo plate and his theology is

gonna mess you up.

So the emphasis is always coming back to Christ.

So a good way to think about it is is that the electricity that's turning these lights on wasn't generated here.

It's generated at a power station somewhere and it's delivered through wires.

So Christ's forgiveness is secured on for us on the cross.

That's where it's one it's distributed for us in the absolution in baptism and in the Lord's

Supper and.

So the idea then is is that these means then?

Call for us to believe.

To believe that Christ is bled and died for this for us in this forgiveness is really from God.

And the reason why we need it is because every day our sinful nature still

Tempts us to all kinds of really really awful terrible wicked things and we do it.

And so, you know you come in here every single week and I know this, you know.

Because I had the same problem you come in here every single week having put fought the good fight of faith and

there's victories.

And there's a lot of failures as well.

And so again, I promise that I'll stop Pronouncing the absolution every week as soon as y 'all

stop sending every week.

So.

And till then we carry on so and then you'll note then that there's a second key withholding

forgiveness from the impenitent and it's important to note this that the impenitent is Has

decided they don't want to be forgiven.

So ultimately the impenitent just you just give them what they want.

So it's which is really sad and tragic.

That has to be decided properly there's you have to follow Matthew 18 for this.

No pastor can act on this by his own recognizance, so the so when

somebody sins against another person.

Then what happens is is that it's dealt with privately first for the sake of winning your brother follow Matthew

18 so, you know if somebody were to sin against you Dave and Insult you in

some way or another a sin against you grievously you go to them privately and say, you know, listen, you know brother.

You've done this and you need to repent what you did was sin.

And then I always say if the person says well go pound sand Dave.

How dare you tell me who that I'm sinned against you or something like that and they decide to you know.

Kind of dig in.

Then you wait a little bit and then you bring another person so that it can be established by two or more witnesses.

And so the two of you go again privately meet with a fellow and say listen.

No brother.

You've sinned this is this is not right you need to repent and Your goal is for him to repent so that he can be

forgiven and everything can be reconciled and if he says no I didn't.

Yeah, how dare you and you get out of my house kind of stuff?

Well, what do you what?

What's the next step in the process?

Then you get the pastor involved everybody trying to plead with him, you know, come to your senses fellow.

You know, you've you've sinned here and You're saying that by being obstinate in this way you're

refusing to be forgiven and if then he won't listen to all of them, then you bring it up to the church and

Then the church again, pleased with him brother repent and If

after that the person won't repent.

Then you have to wash your hands of the fellow and say all right.

We're gonna hand you over to the devil, you know, you don't want to be forgiven.

Have it your way.

Then shame on you you have to you have to go back and go do you and here's the thing you're gonna notice something I'm gonna make this clear is that

the steps don't have to be just one -offs.

So if you if your brother sins against you and you go to him privately and he won't listen to you.

Let him cool down a little bit and then go back and see so, you know.

This doesn't take place in a week.

So when it comes to church discipline, you take your time.

The goal is repentance.

The the goal is reconciliation and even when it comes to excommunication.

The goal is reconciliation.

So that's the goal and so the idea then is is that the binding key that takes

us all.

You don't get a pastor who kind of says I've got the binding key right here in my holster.

You know, I'm gonna take you out with it.

Yeah.

No, no that doesn't work there's a whole process for that and The fact that there is a process and due

diligence when it comes to the binding key is a mercy.

It is a mercy because then at the very end of it if you followed all of the steps properly

you can say We've done everything we're supposed to do that Christ has told us to do and

God's gonna have to be the one, you know.

So we can say we're you know, we're not in the wrong here.

So it takes a lot of reflection and patiently working through it.

All right.

Let's get back into the our finishing up of the commandments God's

holy law.

We've noted a few things and that is is that God carries out his punishments for our

sin in several different ways.

Primarily you can talk about the subjecting us all to the difficulties of this earthly life and the toil and the work that we

have to Do that goes back to Genesis 3 we talk about the fact that God also can punish our sins through

authorized Authorities such as parents when parents do not spare the rod in order that their

children do not be spoiled.

Or we can also talk about how then the government is set up by God as an authority to punish the evildoer.

I Need to note again that we are living in a strange time when our governments and governments

you know Western governments seem to be hell -bent on punishing good and Protecting evil

so and it's this is only getting worse I would just say buckle up.

It's gonna be a rough ride ahead as best way I can say it and then there's another one that is very difficult for us to

come to grips with.

But again, it just kind of goes along with what we were talking about regarding church discipline.

Is that one of the ways in which God punishes us and we can see this in Romans chapter 1 is actually handing us

over to self -destructive sins and their Consequences where God basically says

fine.

You don't want to worship me as God you want to Be an idolater, you know that I exist, you know that you're not giving

me glory fine I'm gonna hand you over to debasing passions and so sin itself

and an ever -increasing Appetite for sin is actually a punishment from God and it's important for us to recognize

that as the case.

Now the ways in which God fulfills his promises to us would be through the blessings of the earth.

Fair, you know good fair weather and things like that I'm praying that we get some warmer weather soon

because not only do I not like winter that lasts this long, but I also am Concerned about the farmers in the

area that they're able to get their crops into the ground and things like that.

So one of the ways that God blesses us is through the fruit of the earth also, God blesses us with good parents or good

authorities and good government officials and then the other way in which God blesses us is

with temporal health talents and Vocational work for the

securing of our bodily needs and possessions and things like that.

And so if you do not have a bad back, that is a blessing from God.

I know because that blessing has been robbed of me for the past few days I'm looking forward to receiving that blessing back but the idea then

is is that we don't always have to view like if you know health set backs to some kind like God's punishing you for a particular

sin because your back was thrown out.

That's not the way we look at these things.

So the idea then is is that every blessing of God flows from the fact that he has sent us his Savior and

and so because we are in him we are reckoned righteous our sins are forgiven and we have a right standing before

God and That makes it possible for us to be able to praise God and rejoice.

Not only in the good times when we're blessed but also in the difficult times when we are suffering.

And so that's the idea and then none of this means we don't ever want to come up with this quid pro quo

approach that basically says that if we act a certain way then God will bless us in

particular ways with health or Finances or things like that?

That's not how it works if you think about it this way the only sinless man who ever walked the earth was

Jesus Christ and He was not a wealthy fellow and he suffered

Terribly and then his Apostles you think of the Apostle Paul the Apostle Paul is a fellow who he

was doing good Preaching Christ.

We're bringing people to penitent faith in Christ and planting churches throughout the Mediterranean and you look at his resume

from 2nd Corinthians 11 about how He was always in danger and was beaten and flogged and all these

kinds of things and you recognize that The saying no good deed goes unpunished definitely may apply to Christians.

So we do not look at our temporal circumstances as somehow a thermometer as to our standing before

God.

Especially if we are trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins sometimes doing good in that way.

We'll get you in all kinds of trouble so now for a

thorny doctrine and One that we have to come to grips with and should not follow those

who have erred and departed from Christian sound biblical doctrine and that is the question is

what ultimately does God threaten against those who hate him and Persist in sin and unbelief in breaking his

commandments.

What is it that we are truly saved from that's the question and The

answer is hell.

That's the answer and I know this makes people uncomfortable.

I know that there are Christians who have a difficult time reconciling how can scripture say that

God is love and Send people to hell

and the best way I can put it is is that God is truly love

and yet at the same time God is also just.

These different aspects of who God is and what his character is do not conflict with each other.

But we err when we try to somehow Put love over God's justice in a

way that eliminates God's justice and unfortunately there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians today

who cannot bear and Outright attack the biblical doctrine of hell

and it's important to note this and that is is that there was one person who's in scriptures

taught the most about hell and The person who taught the most about hell was not Isaiah

and it wasn't Moses.

It was Jesus Christ.

He's the one who taught the most about it and he spoke very Explicitly concerning it

now in order to properly understand the doctrine of hell.

We have to know something about how death operates each and every one of us because

we are sinners.

We know that the wages of sin is death and it's important to note that scripture makes a distinction.

It talks about The first death and it talks about the second death it

talks about the first resurrection and it talks about the second resurrection.

So in order to properly understand what it is that we are saved from we have to get death, right?

So I'm gonna do a quick word search in my Bible program and we're gonna look in the book of Revelation

at several passages and we're gonna be looking specifically at the passages that talk about the

second death and we pull these up add a little bit of context to them and Listen to what

Christ says.

You're going to note that in the opening passages in the opening passage here death.

The second death is described and talked about by none other by than Jesus notice the red letters.

Oftentimes when we read our Bibles We think that red letters the letters are the words that Jesus spoke are

somehow limited only to the Gospels.

But you're gonna find red letters in the Gospels.

You'll find them in the book of Acts.

You will also find red letters in the book of Revelation and it's important for us to recognize this.

That the opening portion of the book of Revelation are actual letters that Christ

himself the risen Jesus Dictated word -for -word to the Apostle John and.

So this is the reason why in the book of Revelation there's a whole section in the beginning portion of it where you'll see red

letters and those aren't pretend letters that somebody just Pinned on Jesus.

Those are actual words that he spoke important for us to keep that in mind so we

read in Revelation chapter 2 Verse 11 he who

has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

Second death.

You see the one the death you need to be worried about.

The death that needs to keep you awake at night is not your physical death.

Here and now it's the second death that you need to worry about.

And so Christ himself is warning us About the second death and promising and the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second

death.

In Revelation chapter 20 verse 6 we read these words.

Blessed and holy is the one who? shares in the first resurrection.

Over such the second death has no power.

They will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 20 verse 14.

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

This is the second death the lake of fire.

So if I were to give you a Sunday school quiz and on the quiz It said please define

for me what the second death is.

What is the second death the lake of fire?

Now look at the Revelation 21 verse 8 and here's what it says as for the cowardly the

faithless the detestable as for murderers the sexually immoral

sorcerers idolaters and all liars.

Their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is

the second death second death Equals lake

of fire.

Let me pull up another passage of Scripture.

I think it's in Revelation 14 and In Revelation 14

starting at verse 9 listen to these words.

Another angel a third followed them saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the beast and its

image Receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand.

He also will drink the wine of God's wrath.

Poured full strength into the cup of his anger and he will be tormented with fire

and sulfur in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb and The smoke of their

torment goes up forever and ever.

They have no rest day or night.

These worshipers of the beasts and its image and whoever receives the mark of its name.

So you'll note Scripture clearly Teaches that the lake of fire

is not a temporal punishment.

It is an eternal punishment and the torment that they experience there

is without end.

It is without rest it lasts day and night days without end

and it's important for us to recognize this that each and every Single

one of us because of our sin because of our rebellion because of our participation in the

works of darkness.

This is exactly what each and every one of us deserves.

This is most certainly true.

It is not by our righteousness that we avoid this fate.

It is by God's grace and mercy and the gift that he has given us in the forgiveness of sins won by Christ.

We are never to consider ourselves better than anybody else because we have been granted

Mercy from God to avoid this fate.

This is what we are saved from and It's a hard

pill to swallow and we want to blame God we want to turn it around on God and say God,

how dare you how can you say you're loving and Do that to people?

That's that's absurd because Every single person who ends

up in this fate.

This is what they deserve.

Every single person who is saved is not getting what they deserve and the

only reason why any of us is Capable of not getting what we reserve what we deserve is because

Jesus took What we deserve on?

Himself.

So that God's justice and his wrath can be Fulfilled.

God didn't say all right.

I'll give you guys another chance.

Sins, no big deal.

No.

That's not it at all.

Instead God says I love you.

And since my justice has to be fulfilled I will take your place as your substitute.

So when we see Christ suffering bleeding and dying on the cross.

Each and every one of us needs to remember.

Your sins kind of individually are what he is bleeding and dying for.

You know, I.

Regardless of what you think about Mel Gibson, you know, some people really like him.

Some people really hate him that is immaterial.

The one thing I thought was fascinating with the movie the passion of the Christ is that Mel Gibson makes a cameo

appearance in the movie.

Does anyone know which character Mel Gibson plays?

No.

That's right.

Mel Gibson's only cameo appearance he His hands were the hands

holding the hammer that nailed Jesus to the cross.

That's our role and the fact that he took that for himself.

Should make us realize that each and every one of us if we were in that movie, that's the place I would be.

That's the place you would be.

It's our sins that put him on the cross and He did not.

No one took his life from him.

He willingly laid down his life for you so that you can live and

That's the beauty of the gospel.

But we must always remember and Never take it away that what we are being saved from

and scripture says it so clearly is the actual wrath of God itself.

We are not being saved from a bad hair day.

We are not being saved from the upsets and the slips ease in the oopsies and the things that make your life Uncomfortable

or just make it so that you're not.

Things aren't running as smoothly as they could.

Yesterday on the way to the men's Bible study I hit four stoplights and I was just like come on

really how many of these things see Jesus didn't die for that.

You see what I'm saying?

That's just an annoyance.

What he died for was the wrath of God.

Now I want to show you another passage and I love the fact that this passage shows up every

year in the lectionary.

But it's in Matthew chapter 25 at the close of the Olivet Discourse, and it's the it's a very

thinly veiled Parable and it's kind of how the Day of Judgment is going to go down.

The redundancy in working through the text and pointing out the same things I've pointed out are for the sake that we continue

to focus in on these important truths because this is how the Day of Judgment Is going to look when the Son of

Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him notice red letters.

He will sit on his glorious throne.

Before him will be gathered all of the nations.

Everybody.

The French will be there the Russians the Syrians the Norwegians.

Even the ones in Oslo.

And he will separate people one from another as A shepherd separates the sheep from

the goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

And I need to note at this point the judgment has already taken place.

You are judged by what you are.

You are either one of Christ's sheep or you are a goat and it's important for us to

recognize every one of us was born a goat and that's the miracle of

Becoming a Christian.

Is that Christ?

Miraculously through the working of the Holy Spirit in the means of grace the preaching of his word the waters of

baptism transforms us.

From being dead to being alive from being goats to being sheep.

And it's all by his grace because I don't know a single goat who can sit there and say

bah I really wish I was a sheep.

Bah.

It doesn't work.

You're separated by what you are.

You are either in Christ or you are not.

So the judgments already taken place only then are the books open we can talk about works.

So the king will say to those on his right.

Come you who are blessed by my father.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me food.

I was thirsty.

You gave me drink.

I was a stranger.

You welcomed me.

I was naked you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me.

Then the righteous will say Lord.

When do we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and Give you a drink.

And when do we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothed you.

And when do we see?

You sick or in prison and visit you sheep are not very smart.

Jesus will say oh you silly sheep.

The king will answer them truly I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these and here's the important words my brothers.

Who are Jesus's brothers?

The Apostles the ones who believe Jesus's brothers are the ones who bring to you the good

news of Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of your sins.

So his brothers were sent out by Jesus to proclaim the gospel and what happened to them?

They were sick.

They were in prison.

They were beaten.

They were mistreated.

Paul even talks about how one time he was naked and What did the people do?

They clothed them visited them in prison cared for them and all this kind of stuff because they were the brothers of Jesus.

How do you treat those who bring to you the gospel?

That's the idea if you believe the gospel then you're gonna treat these Servants these brothers of

Christ.

Well, and you're gonna treat each other with love.

So then he will say to those on his left apart from me you cursed and watch the emphasis

into the eternal fire.

Prepared for the devil and his angels.

On a first reading you can sit there and say well.

That just means the fire burns forever.

It means that and more the text continues.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food as thirsty and you gave me no drink as a stranger.

He did not welcome me naked.

He did not clothe me sick and in prison.

He did not visit me and Then they also will answer saying Lord When

do we see you hungry?

Or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to

you.

Then he will answer them saying truly I say to you as You did not do it to one of the least of these

who's he pointing to his brothers.

You did not do it to me and Then these will go away into.

And what does your text say?

Eternal punishment.

And The righteous into what?

All right, how many of you believe that eternal life only lasts for 10 ,000 years?

If we have been given eternal life, how long do you expect that to last?

Eternally forever.

Yeah, I like the way you said it for ever.

You betcha forever you this is not rocket surgery.

This is not rocket surgery.

It lasts for ever.

Eternal life lasts forever.

But notice the same word eternal is used for something else.

How long does the punishment last?

For ever.

It lasts forever.

Now there are those in the Christian Church today.

They subscribe to a view.

One name for it is conditionalism.

The the idea behind conditionalism is is that however bad your sins were that you committed

in this lifetime if you die without Faith then that will determine how long you will be in the

lake of fire.

So their their idea is is that you know.

Let's say that you were a 13 year old kid and you didn't really live that long.

And for the most part you didn't commit that many sins.

You just did the standard stuff.

You know stealing bubblegum from Hugo's and lying to your friends and you know nonsense like that or not

doing your chores.

I mean that's not as bad as like Hitler right.

And Hitler is over here and then you know.

The 13 year old kid is over there.

And so they'll say it so the 13 year old kid granted God's gonna punish him.

But throw him into the lake of fire and he'll probably last there for a couple of days and then he will cease to exist.

That's not what this text says.

That's a man -made doctrine.

That is a man -made doctrine.

And I understand the temptation to go this way.

I really do.

We in our sinful fallen state.

Somehow think that we know better than God or that somehow we can fault God.

That his justice would result in that Extreme in

our view justice.

But again, I would say We don't know what we're talking about.

You are making sin a light thing when you do this.

And what we have to realize look at the world around us.

Look at the curse that we all labor under.

I'll always again point it out.

You guys look so much more older than when I first got here four years ago.

What is wrong with you people mark?

Your great hair is really starting to get peppery.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right, you know and.

And I've even buried some of the Kongsvinger folk.

The idea is this is that how many sins did it take to plunge us

into this misery?

One.

One this is on almost unbearable

what we are going through.

You know, I heard the Trump bombed Syria and

I heard last week that Syria gassed its own people.

And I thought to myself when will this end?

This is nothing new.

I Remember the missile attacks we launched against Iraq.

I Remember they have missile attacks.

We've launched against other nations.

I remember the original Gulf War.

I remember Storming Norman Schwarzkopf.

He's dead now.

That makes me feel old and you look at our world from terrorist attacks

to shootings in the schools to the terrible ways that

we treat each other.

This life is Awful and you know, what makes it so awful.

We do we do and Yet we would point our

finger at God and say how dare you punish somebody for eternity

and yet God.

It says.

Demonstrates his love for us in that while we were yet sinners and enemies of God.

Christ died for our sins.

The eternal God Born of the Virgin Mary on a Friday afternoon.

Suffered the full wrath of God in our place so that we would not suffer

that fate and We have the audacity in our fallen sinfulness to sit there and say

you're not just that's not fair.

Are we out of our minds?

Are we have we lost our minds?

I think we have.

I would submit to you we are in no position to judge God and He is in

every position To judge us and we must remember that his law has found us all guilty.

So the doctrine of hell.

It stands it's clearly taught.

Jesus mentioned it over and over and over again using the same

Metaphors making it clearly sound like this thing does not end where the worm does not die

eternal torment that.

The anguish of their torment goes up before the Saints and the angels and God and the Lamb forever and ever.

That's what we all deserve.

So ultimately that's what we're saved from.

You know I Jesus spent a lot more time preaching about hell

but he also spent a lot of time talking about the kingdom of heaven and.

So I I haven't done I haven't sit hand is like, you know, I'm done the bean thing okay, one bean for hell

one bean for heaven and things like that, but My my gut would tell me that it it's

probably an even split and maybe a little bit more in favor of the kingdom of heaven.

But he did speak explicitly about hell and not on an infrequent basis on a

really frequent basis.

Yeah, and here's the thing when you understand what it is.

We all deserve and what we're saved from.

Now, let's take a look at Christ on the cross.

What does that tell you about the gospel?

If you don't get that, right then the gospel really loses its significance it

really becomes diminished when you diminish God's law and you diminish his wrath and Water it down with your

own dumb ideas because that's really ultimately what we're talking about.

You think your ideas are better than what the words of God are in the Bible?

Your dumb ideas are now diluting the true full potency of God's Word because you think you know better

which is idolatry self idolatry at that and That just mixes it all up and then the

gospel loses its true potency.

Until you understand what it is.

We all deserve.

The gospel cannot have its full sweetness and this is why you think of the fellow who

wrote Amazing Grace.

This is a guy who wasn't an enslaver.

He was a slave ship captain this fellow literally

captains ships where they took humans in Chains put them down in the

cargo hold and how many of these fellows and women did not survive the passage across the Atlantic

and he'd been multiple trips.

He had no compassion.

No mercy.

He had participated in something that God's law says he deserved death for.

I Want to make that clear?

The book of Exodus and we'll see this when we get back into the text the book of Exodus when it comes to Enslavers

those who would literally steal another human being you see this in the book of Exodus it literally says

the person who steals another human being shall be put to death and Anyone caught with that human being will

also be put to death.

The Mosaic Covenant makes it very clear that not only the enslaver, but everybody who participates in the

industry is Subject as a capital crime

to capital punishment from God.

This guy comes to grips with just how wicked and evil he is and what Becomes

his hymn that he writes that we all sing at every funeral.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a what a Wretch

like me.

There's a wonderful video on YouTube Where a guy who knows a thing or two about

music and its history and things like that.

Notes kind of the uniqueness of the the tune itself.

We all know it.

It's kind of sounds good on the bagpipes and everything like that.

But this guy actually makes the case that the tune itself was

not a tune that he wrote.

That Newton took that tune because that was the tune that the slaves were singing

when they were in the cargo hold.

It's almost like an African dirge.

And I think that sounds right and it wrecked him and in his later

life, what does he become a pastor and Becoming a pastor cannot

undo what he did as a slave trader.

Right.

You can study God's Word.

You can teach Bible studies.

It can't undo your wickedness.

You can go and work in the homeless shelter.

You can go and preach the gospel in the prisons.

It will not be enough to save you.

There's not enough good that you can do to Purchase your redemption

and God in his mercy has done this for us.

Which this then why?

When we read first John this morning, we are admonished because of Christ's great love for

us.

We are to be marked by love for each other.

Do you truly know what it means to be loved by God?

When you clench your fist and you hate your brothers and sisters in Christ.

I would say no and I don't say that as my opinion.

I say that that's what the text says.

Love covers a multitude of sins and the love of Christ

has Covered a multitude of your sins.

In fact all of them so We

do not dare Shave the hard edges off of God's law.

We've spent months and I mean this months slowly Methodically

working our way through the Ten Commandments.

Did you ever think that they were that comprehensive that they really?

Required you to do that much and having spent all of these months working our way through these

Ten Commandments I gotta ask you.

How well are you keeping them?

And see that's the point.

You can't.

You don't.

This is why we need Christ and we need the gospel.

So let's continue on then as we wrap up our study of the commandments and note.

Then that God's law is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

Let me ask you this real quick.

This is not a trick question.

God wants you to keep his commandments.

How carefully does God want you to keep them?

What's the stick?

What's the standard?

Perfectly how do we know this?

How do we know that God wants us to keep his law perfectly where?

Matthew chapter 5 verse 48.

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.

Here's what Jesus says you therefore must be Perfect

as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

You must be perfect.

Jesus is half -brother.

James writes in James chapter 2 verse 10.

Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point Has become

guilty of all of it all of it.

That kind of tells you about the futility of somehow building a house of cards called my good works as If somehow

that's going to save you because one one Infraction

brings the whole thing down.

So can anyone be saved by keeping God God's law or his commandments?

Answer no, let's take a look at a passage of Scripture Galatians chapter 3.

Paul writing to the Churches in Galatia who had listened to the Judaizers who were saying that you cannot be saved unless you

keep the Mosaic Covenant.

Along with believing in Jesus they were being self -righteous.

Paul writes.

Oh foolish Galatians who has bewitched you it was before your eyes that Jesus Christ

was publicly portrayed as Crucified so let me ask you this.

Did you receive the Holy Spirit by works of the law or by hearing

with faith.

What do you think the answer to the question is?

Hearing with faith, right.

Are you so foolish having begun by the Spirit and note note the language here?

To walk according to the Spirit is to walk according to faith having begun by the Spirit.

Are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Did you suffer so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain?

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and work miracles among you do so by works of the law

or by hearing with faith?

Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted or credited to him as righteousness.

So know then That it is those of faith Who are the sons of Abraham

all the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith?

Preach the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying in you shall all the nations be blessed.

So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith.

All who rely and that's an important word, by the way, it doesn't say all who keep the commandments.

All who rely on works of the law to rely on works of the law is to say God

I deserve to go to heaven because I did this this this this and this that's to rely on the

works of the law.

We are not to rely on them.

We are to keep his commandments because we are saved but we are not to rely on God's law for salvation and

justification.

So all who rely on works of the law are under a curse for it is written cursed be everyone

who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law and continually do

them.

Now it is evident that no one is Justified before God by the law.

How many people are justified before God by the law?

No one.

For the righteous shall live by faith.

The law is not of faith.

In fact, the law doesn't require faith at all.

Just requires obedience.

The law is not of faith rather the one who does them shall live by them.

However Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

And what is the curse of the law?

The curse of the law is its condemnation.

It's important to note the law itself is not a curse.

God's law is holy and just and good but the curse of the law is its condemnation of our sin and

it rightly condemns us.

But Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for cursed is if for it

is written cursed is Everyone who is hanged on a tree so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham

Might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.

So to give a human example even a man -made covenant.

No one annuls it or adds to it once has been ratified once the contracts been signed.

You can't change the clauses now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.

Zara singular it does not say offsprings.

Referring to many but referring to one and your offspring.

That's Christ.

So this is what I mean the top the law the Torah which came four hundred and thirty years afterwards given

at Mount Sinai.

It does not annul a covenant that was previously ratified by God.

So as to make the promise void.

So the important the important covenant then is the Abrahamic not the Mosaic.

Remember God made a promise to Abraham by faith for if the inheritance comes by the law

It no longer comes by promise, but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

So why then was the law given?

It was added because of transgressions until the offspring.

That's Christ should come to whom the promise had been made and it was put in place through angels.

By an intermediary now in a mirror intermediary implies more than one but God is one.

So then is the law contrary to the promises of God?

No, certainly not for if a law had been given that could give life.

Then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

But the scripture imprisoned everyone under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be

given to those who believe.

Now before faith came we were all held captive under the law.

We were imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.

So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come we're no longer under a guardian for in Christ Jesus.

You are all sons of God through faith for as many of you as were baptized into Christ.

You have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew or Greek.

There's neither slave nor free.

There's no male and female.

You are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are Christ's then you were Abraham's offspring heirs according to the promise and so

you're gonna note here even the Apostle Paul talking about our Salvation as a gift not by works.

Reminds us again you were baptized and the reason he does it is because of the promises of God that are given

in the waters Of baptism that we are united with Christ in his death and his resurrection.

Our sins are washed away.

Our hearts are circumcised by Christ.

So Paul always is pointing his Christians back to the waters of baptism.

Which is why your pastor does the same thing as well because I can say with certainty.

That was a place where God promised you things and you hang on by faith to all of those promises so

remember you have been united with Christ in the waters of baptism that you have put him on and that we are

his and That we are heirs according to the promise.

Not according to the law and works.

So now you see then how long gospel work out the law is good.

The curse of the law is its accusation power.

But that curse has been silenced by Christ and we are saved not by our law keeping.

We are saved by grace through faith in his mercy.

And the reason why we do good works is because we are the children of God.

We are the children of light.

We no longer walk in darkness.

We walk in the light of his word and we keep and we guard his commandments knowing that the law

itself is the law of freedom.

Sin is slavery.

Loving each other is freedom.

That's the idea.

All right.

We'll pick this up again next week.

Actually next week.

We'll get back into the book of Exodus.