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The world has an agenda and it is trying to get you to believe its agenda. Remember the Greek mythology with the siren songs? The sirens on shore beckoning the men and ships, just come closer, oh they were so beautiful, it sounded so good.
But when the men would get close to shore, shipwreck. The Argonauts made it past the sirens because Orpheus played a song to drown out the siren songs and the lullaby from these femme fatales. The Argonauts made it through for that.
Odysseus sailed by with his men, he made it according to legend because they tied him to the mast and then all the men put wax in their ears so they wouldn't buy in to this compelling lullaby of death.
The world, she is selling her wares. But the end is tragic. It sounds so soothing, it sounds so sensuous, it sounds so good. Temptation everywhere. Do we buy the world's goods or do we ignore them? This morning we're going to look at some deadly temptations.
For the second time I think in 16 years I'm going to do a flip, not the sanctuary flip, but what do we ever call it the flip by the way? Flip Wilson, who knows what the flip was. We flip the sanctuary around.
Sunday night, tonight at 6, I'm going to preach Matthew chapter 8, talking about the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. But this morning I'm going to preach what I was going to preach tonight. And so if you can't stand it because you're not in the exposition of Matthew chapter 8 and the credentials of our powerful King, I'll see you tonight at 6 .30.
Bring a dessert. The world knows how to sell. The world knows how to advertise. Energized by Satan, the four Ps with product, place, price, and promotion. Too often, Christians are gullible and buy in to what the world is selling.
I don't want you to do that. It's not a sin to be tempted, but it's a sin to be tempted and then to fall. So this morning, let me give you a series of deadly temptations. I want you to be guarded against so that you don't buy what the world is certainly selling.
I've probably got about 20. We're going to get through about eight or so, maybe nine. It just depends. Deadly temptations that I want you to run from. Number one, you will be tempted to exalt yourself instead of Jesus Christ.
You are going to be tempted to exalt yourself instead of Jesus Christ. Not just from the world, but even from yourself. Turn your Bibles, please, to Acts chapter 12 as we look at self-exaltation and what God thinks about such narcissism.
We have a new vocabulary for our self-fascination. I looked up words in the dictionary, self-centered, self-seeking, self-love, self-importance, self-satisfaction, self-esteem, self-will, self-help, self-conscious, self-assured, self-realization, self-reliance, self-expression, self-righteous.
We are tempted to make much of ourselves and little of Christ. And it needs to be the other way around. True or false, God is a jealous God. True or false, God's name is jealous. God is the one deserving the glory.
And so we want to make sure we don't try to rob God and steal from God what is rightfully His. Whitney Houston, I think, when she was alive and sang the song, The Greatest Love of All, I think she was promoting the siren song of self-exaltation.
A lyric from the song says, learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all. Peter McWilliams, author of Love 101, has a subtitle to the book, To Love Oneself is the Beginning of a Lifelong Romance.
Laughed the first time I said it, I'll laugh again. Who else is more qualified to love you than you? Who else knows what you want precisely when you want it and is always around to supply it? Melody Beatty, author of Codependent No More, has a chapter entitled Have a Love Affair with Yourself.
To show you how far we've come, William Carey, the English Baptist missionary sent to India, has this on his tombstone. William Carey, born August 17th, 1761, died June 1834. A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, on thy kind arms I fall.
Let's look at Acts chapter 12, and we will learn with this first temptation that self-praise is always a bad idea. And the Bible regularly punctuates the judgment due to self-praise. But after all, my child is an honor student, and you slap that back on your bumper sticker.
I'm not saying I want God to judge with Acts 12 judgment for the people that do that, but everywhere we go, my point is, they're self-boasting. Now to pick us up in the book of Acts, James has been killed, Peter was next, and now God rescues.
Acts 12 .20. Now Herod, this is Herod Agrippa I, he grew up in Rome, and he was best buddies with Caligula. That's probably all you need to know. Lots said about him from the historian Josephus, which I'll quote in a moment.
Now he was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They were kind of independent bunch there. And they came to him with one accord. There's probably an issue with grain markets and the Phoenicians wanting to sell and buy.
And having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food. So economic dependency sends someone as a representative. Let's talk a little bit.
The blockade Herod is snuffing out our income. We need peace. Verse 21, on an appointed day, by the way, this is the feast day in honor of Roman Emperor Claudius. Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne.
This is the throne in the amphitheater built by Herod the Great, his grandfather. He sat on the throne and delivered an oration to them. Now it's interesting. Josephus, the Jewish writer who's not a professing Christian, tells about this story, and it was all set up with THX.
Is that a movie thing, THX? Dolby THX? Yeah. I just looked at Sam. Sam was shaking his head, yes. I owe you a dollar. The staging, the lights, the daybreak, the attire, it makes for a grand entrance, Josephus said.
After the completion of the third year of his reign, Agrippa came to the city of Caesarea. On the second day of the spectacles, clad in a garment woven completely of silver, so that its texture was indeed wondrous, he entered the theater at daybreak.
So the sun's coming up, it screams into the silver, and it just is wondrously radiant, Josephus says. It inspired fear and awe in those, Josephus said, who gazed intently upon it. And so what do the people do?
Verse 22 of our text, and the people were shouting over and over and over, the voice of a God and not a man, the voice of a God and not a man. God is talking to us. Josephus says that they said, be propitious to us, Josephus adds.
The voice of a God and not a man. Now when Cornelius met Peter in Acts 10, he fell at his feet. Cornelius did and worshipped him, but Peter lifted him up saying, stand up, I too am a man. But that's not what happens here with Herod.
The voice of a God and not a man. Verse 23, there's only one to be glorified. There's one creator, one redeemer, one advocate. And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down. God, on numerous occasions, sending out angels to kill 185 ,000 Assyrians in 2 Kings 19.
Why did he get killed? Because he did not give God the glory. He was giving himself the glory. It was all staged for his exaltation. And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. He didn't give God glory and so divine judgment through natural worms.
When I was preaching first service, I thought if I was going to teach a bunch of young kids a passage to talk about this, I'd teach this one right here because there would be no sleeping kids at this part right here with the worm eating.
The young kids are listening. What was going on here? Eaten by worms? You say, that's gross. Yeah, it's supposed to be. Josephus said he lived for five days and many commentators say he was eaten so much from the inside that you could smell him.
What's it smell like when an alive man is getting eaten from the inside by tapeworms? There's a book called Science in the Bible, Moody Press. And it says the phrase eaten of worms in Greek is skolakobratis.
The root word skolak is the specific head structure of a tapeworm. Commonly found in sheep growing countries, they get into the dogs first, then through fecal matter, they get to the humans. The disease is characterized, she says, by formation of cysts generally on the right lobe of the liver.
They may extend down into the abdomen cavity. The rupture of such a cyst may release as many as two million skolases. The developing worms inside the cysts begin to eat the patient. Oh, I'm great, I'm number one, I'm the greatest, look at me.
Friends, God alone is great. And here there's a punctuation. When you get on that throne and the sun comes shining and you don't say everything I am and all that I have is because of the triune God of the universe.
Here, God snuffs him out. The same Herod that's snuffing out James, that wanted to kill Peter. Verse 24, cannot stop the sovereign steamroller word of God. Verse 24, but the word of God increased and multiplied.
God triumphs. God's words triumph. Herod is dead. Herod should have been singing Psalm 115, Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give what? Glory. Turn with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 1.
We are boasting people and that's good. You were born to boast. You were born to brag. You were born to say to other people, let me tell you about something great. Let me tell you about someone great.
That's what you're supposed to do. Why do you think I was so good at doing bring and brag or show and tell in Omaha, Nebraska when I was five years old in kindergarten? By the way, the school that I went to in Omaha, Nebraska on Fort Street is a brand new school.
I left Laura Dodge in kindergarten and I moved to a new school appropriately entitled Master's Elementary School. Had nothing to do with Master's Seminary. And it was just built in our nature. You go to a Red Sox game, you go to a Lakers game, you go to a Celtics game and people don't have to be taught how to cheer.
Now, if you ever see those guys, get your programs, get your programs. You look down here, how to root for your team. Number one, stand up. Number two, yell. Number three, drop your popcorn, but just act like you don't care.
Go. People are born for this. Why? Because we realize we're finite and God's infinite. We realize that God is great and we're supposed to boast. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 29. God chose all these things, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are.
He chose, He chose, He chose. What's the purpose? Verse 29 of 1 Corinthians, that no man should boast before God. You don't boast before God of self. I'm boasting in riches, I'm boasting in brains, I'm boasting in brawn.
No, we're supposed to boast in the Lord and who He is and how great He is. He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. You could just hear the words of Jeremiah run through your mind. Let not a wise man, let not a mighty man, let not a wealthy man.
No flesh should boast before, no flesh, no flesh in His presence. Why? Verse 30. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus. Literally of Him, out of God, He did it all. He is the efficient cause of our salvation.
How can we boast of ourselves? It is because of Him you are in Christ Jesus. Verse 31, so that, just as it stands written, imperative present tense, keep on doing it. Here's a command to boast. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Like the Bible regularly teaches, let's not buy into this self-boasting. Because our boasting, although good, is in the wrong place and so the object of our boasting needs to be in the Lord and His goodness and His kindness.
John Newton, who wrote Amazing Grace, said, young Christians think themselves little. Growing Christians think themselves nothing. Full-grown Christians think themselves less than nothing. And then they praise the Lord.
Temptation number two. Temptation number two. You'll be tempted to blame others for your sin, which then makes you not embrace the second Adam. You'll be tempted to blame others in your environment instead of owning Adam's fall, which is going to prevent you from running to the second Adam or the last Adam more technically.
Let's turn our Bibles to Mark chapter 7. You'll be tempted to blame other people. Blaming God's not new in history. It's not even new in Greek mythology. Homer wrote, Zeus now addressed the immortals, what a lamentable thing it is that men should blame the gods and regard us as the source of their troubles when it is their own wickedness that brings them sufferings worse than any which destiny allots them.
We want to own our sin. We want to confess our sins, agree with God about our sins, 1 John chapter 1, because then we run to the one who's faithful and just to forgive our sins. If we say, you know what, I'm not going to own this sin, then we never get to the cross.
We never get to Christ who's our suffering servant who died on behalf of these things. Maladies don't need to be forgiven. Syndromes don't need to be forgiven. But I need to be forgiven because I'm a sinner, therefore I run to the Savior.
So you're short-circuiting yourself if you say, I'm going to blame everybody else. But if you say, I blame me, then you run to the God who loves sinners and sent his son to rescue them. Mark chapter 7, you know the passage.
And he said to them, Mark 7, 18, then you are also without understanding. Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him? Since it enters not his heart but his stomach and is expelled, thus he declared all foods clean.
And he said, what comes out of a person is what defiles him, for within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
All these things, all these evil things come from within and they defile a person. Friends, Proverbs 19 is correct, a man's own folly ruins him. And when you don't think you're sick, do you go to the doctor?
I guess there's only one time you do that, when you have your wellness visit, right? You have your checkup. But when you're sick, you know you need to go to a doctor. Matthew 9, Jesus said, those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick.
When we sin, the best thing that we can do is to just say, I own it and therefore I run to the Savior. I hope you do this in your life, I hope you do this in your family. I've never, this is going to go against what you think, I just taught in number one, but I'll say it anyway.
I don't know anybody who's a better self-rationalizer than me. If I get confronted by someone or if Kim says to me, you know what, honey, that wasn't kind or that wasn't this, that or the other and I didn't measure up to biblical standards and you ought to rethink that or however she says it, she says it very nicely.
I am like, there should be a bumper sticker for me, not my child is an honor student, but I can rationalize like no other. You put me on the defense stand and I can just justify myself, vindicate myself.
I know how to do these things very well. But if I just say, you know what, honey, you're right, I'm sinful, I've asked God to forgive me and I haven't hit His standard and do you think you could forgive me?
Then I move from a point in time to sending the beeline back to the Gospel. Then I think, yes, the Gospel is true and right and why do I have to rationalize myself and then I'm just going to stay neutral, I'm not going to move anywhere towards the Gospel.
Listen to what Edwards said, there is no one lust in the heart of the devil that is not in the heart of man. No wonder we're called children of wrath and then God saves us. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes him will obtain mercy.
And then you say, you know, I had Adam's sin imputed to my account, but there's the last Adam that I should run to. The free gift is not like the trespass, Paul said in Romans 5, for if many died through the one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free grace, by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.
Number three, somewhat related to the first two, but we're just working through this outline. You've got to have verse by verse, Acts of Jesus, we'll see you tonight, six o 'clock. You'll be tempted to compare yourself to others.
You'll be tempted to compare yourself to others instead of our thrice holy God. Turn to Luke 18 if you would please, Luke 18. You know this passage. I think you probably know most of the things I'm saying today, but just like when Pradeep was reading, stirring people up by reminder.
It's not a good sermon if you learn something new. I'm glad if you learn something new, but going back to the old truths, Luke 18. I love to study the preaching of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus. I don't know if you know this, but God loves preaching.
Did you know that? I don't say that just because I'm a preacher, but God loves preaching. He preaches in nature. Look at how powerful I am and look at how wise I am. He preaches through his son like this and he preaches through his word.
Who talks like this, Luke 18? I hope you regularly read the gospels just to be impressed with Jesus, that the fame of Christ might increase in your heart. You might appreciate him all the more. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.
And when you do that, then you compare and you treat others with contempt. You know the passage, you know the parable. Two men went up into the temple to pray. One the Pharisee, religious man, the other a tax collector, the scallywag.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, talking to himself, talking to the tax collector more than anybody else. I thank you God that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even like this tax collector over here.
I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get, but the tax collector, see, he's not comparing himself to the Pharisee. He doesn't even see the Pharisee, he's not even in his peripheral vision, as it were, spiritually.
He wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven. Why? He's contrite. He knows who God is. He beat his breast, not with a Tarzan bravado, but with contrition. God, be propitious, be merciful to me. Literally, the sinner.
I know what I deserve. I know who I am. I'm not comparing myself to the tax collector, to the Pharisee. There's never been a sinner in all the world. I am he. And so, Lord, be merciful. I know you are merciful.
Your loving kindness is everlasting. Please be propitiated. Let your anger be removed. Who cares about the other person? His conscience was after him. Verse 14, I tell you, this man went down to his house, justified, declared righteous.
Rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. That's why it's so good, beloved, to study the Word of God, because then you realize who God is, who we are, and then you never do what we have in our culture today.
I talk about this a lot, but I think it's true. Why is Jerry Springer and his ilk, why are they so popular? Answer, because praise the Lord, at least somebody's a deviant and I'm normal. But before the Lord, we all fall short.
Number four, this is big in our culture today and this is a huge one. And so I'll talk about this maybe a little longer. You'll be tempted to think sexual sin is normal and natural. You'll be tempted to think that sexual sin is normal and natural.
We live in a world that the world says, especially with a gay marriage issue happening before our very eyes, coming like a roller coaster, downhill as fast as possible with few breaks. Well, you know what?
I guess you're born that way and if you're born that way, then it's okay. This isn't an issue of behavior before God. If you're white or black, that's not a, you're just born that way. And so that has no moral implications.
After all, if you're hungry, you eat. If you're hungry for sex, you indulge. Sex, a sin? No, I thought it was fun. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13 and let's find out what God says. It doesn't matter what the world goes on to sell.
They want to make sure everybody is quiet about it so they don't feel guilty with their God-given conscience. Sexual sin, that is sex outside of marriage, is sin against God and always sin. Yes, of course, God forgives sexual sin.
Aren't you glad? But if you take a look at Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4, we go to other passages when we talk about sexual sin, but I like this passage because it talks about the honor of marriage. Marriage is to be highly prized and honored, precious, using the same terminology about Jesus's redemption in his blood is precious.
In 1 Peter, verse 4 of Hebrews 13 says, let marriage be held in honor among all Christians. No. Marriage reflects Christ's love for the church and the church's submission to the son, and it reflects things about the eternal love of God that the son would be sent to rescue the bride and redeem her and wash her and cleanse her and sanctify her and glorify her.
God had the idea of marriage before humans were created, and therefore, marriage represents an eternal truth. And it shouldn't just be honored in the church. It shouldn't just be honored in your home.
It's to be honored, what? Among all. Marriage must be honored among all. It's precious. Honor means to be in first place, highly prized, special, lifted up. It reflects God's grace in Christ Jesus and his substitutionary death.
It reflects a wonderful thing in life where there's marriage. It's to be held in honor among all. And because of that, let the marriage bed. You can study the Greek, the marriage act, be undefiled. God has made it holy.
That's why outside of marriage, it's profane. God has made it good in marriage. That's why outside of marriage, it's bad. For God will judge the sexually immoral, those who aren't married. And the adulterous, those who are married but.
Are not with their spouse. Oh, God, you're so good, you give us salvation and then every other good gift and you give us this good gift in marriage, too, and then people come along and say, instead of saying, God, sex and marriage is good and right and holy.
I want what I want now. I'm not married or I'm married, but I want somebody else and I want what I want. And so self-gratification and self-pleasure. Pushes away the goodness of God. That is why it's such a grave sin.
I don't care about my responsibility to God, our Christian community, I want to have sex. You see the word there, undefiled, the marriage bed is undefiled. Let me read you some words about Jesus and the same word is used.
To speak about the purity of our Lord, Hebrews seven, for it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent. Now, here's our word, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.
He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Those that practice sexual behavior outside of marriage, before marriage.
What's the text say? God will judge. No wonder Paul says in first Corinthians chapter six, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived when the world says, you know what?
Everything is good and right. Everybody else is doing it. It's all fine. It's dandy. Go for it. You only live once. God will judge. And there's a whole, as A .T. Robertson calls it, solemn roll call of the damned for people who think they were on the church roll and they're really on the damned roll because their lifestyle is one of unrighteousness, adulterers, homosexuals, effeminate.
I'm so glad that first Corinthians goes on to say, and such what? Were some of you. God's grace is greater. You are washed, sanctified, justified. Those passages that talk about God working, we're passive and God washed us.
He sanctified us. He justified us in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit. Therefore, we want to flee sexual immorality. The world is going to be continuing to jam this down our bearable throats.
The Bible says, of course, God is great. Of course, God is good to invent this, but he knows where it should take place. And that is within the marriage bed. Number five, number five, the fifth temptation.
By the way, before I talk about the fifth temptation, if you are in sexual sin, run. If you've committed sexual sin, run to the cross, you can be forgiven. Number five, you will be tempted to believe Jesus is only a savior, not the Lord.
You'll be tempted to believe Jesus is savior only and not Lord. See, every one of these has something to do with man and then connected to the last man, Adam, and then the last Adam sin. And then the savior guilt and then gratitude out of the grace about the cross.
It's all linked together. The temptations might not be that bad if they only terminated in self, but it makes us forget about our Lord. Once you turn your Bibles to Acts chapter two, please. Acts chapter two.
I just want you to be reminded that in God's eyes, God, the father, Jesus is Lord. And he is Christ or the Messiah or the savior. Acts chapter two, verse thirty six. This is a big one for me because I fell into this for so long.
I believe that I was a Christian. If you would ask me, are you a Buddhist? No, you would have asked me, would you die for your faith? I think I would have even said yes. I mean, there were no guns around at the time, but I would have known enough about Christian martyrs that I wouldn't want to, you know, not die for the Lord.
Maybe one thing, if you thought, you know what, I'm going to go to hell. But it's another thing to say, I think I'm going to go to heaven. And as John Bunyan says, there's a porthole to hell at the gates of heaven for people who think, you know what?
The God of the universe, I say to myself, change me. He justified me. He regenerated me. He made me a new creation in Christ. The God who makes things out of nothing changed my life, but there's no change in my life.
If there's no change in your life, then you ought to ask the question, how can there be a change in my standing before God? Kim and I were introduced to each other by a lady named Sharon, Scottish lady named Sharon.
She lived in my apartment complex. And I've told you the story. We were talking about religious things, spiritual things. She asked me, what are my beliefs? And I said, I'm a Christian. I probably didn't say a Christian.
I probably said, I'm a Lutheran. And she said, well, I'm a Christian. Oh, really? That's interesting. That's nice. And she said, well, I have a picture of me and Jesus in my house. OK, I'd like to see that picture.
I thought it was going to be like, you know, Jesus putting his hand on the young man who is holding the steering. What do you call a steering wheel in a boat? A wheel, steering wheel, that's called a wheel.
Say it out loud. The wheel, it looks like a wheel, but I don't think it's called a wheel. Will somebody help me? Huh? They're at the helm holding the thing that looks like a wheel. I thought Jesus had his hand there.
I thought, you know what? It's going to be a picture like that. You know, Jesus, fair skin, German, blue eyes, feathered hair. Jesus, it was some guy. He probably 60 years old. His name was I said, that's not Jesus.
That's not Jesus. She said, well, it's Jesus. Well, Sharon, you got a new name that he gave you, Aria, and his name used to be John Rogers. And now it's self-given Jesus. That's not Jesus. And if you would have said, Mike, was that a good job sticking up for Jesus?
Probably. But I didn't care about Jesus, Lord, lordship. I cared about I didn't want to go to hell. I've got that all taken care of. I believed in Jesus. Now, just let me go live my life for my own glory.
I have my own Herod agenda. Thank you. That's why when that guy on Sunset Boulevard looked at me, we're coming back from the church. There's about five of us in the car. And that guy looked at me and he said, you're a Christian.
I'm not really a hitter, but I wanted to hit him. I think in my mind I did hit him. I just wish I would know what his name is today. And I would tell him, you know, that rocked my world. I say I'm a Christian.
I profess I'm a Christian. I've got the lingo of a Christian, the verbiage of a Christian. I know what to do. I've been baptized, catechized, irrigated, everything, consecrated. I went on mission trips to Galeana, Mexico, to tell people about Jesus as the only Lord, the object of the Christian faith.
Verse 36 of Acts chapter two. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. No wonder John chapter two, many believed on his name, but they didn't follow him because they only wanted the bread.
They only wanted the wine at Canaan. Luke eight, these have root, but they believe only for a while. If there's no change in your life, you ask yourself the question, how could my change, how could the change of the status of my life be true?
If I'm not a new creation in Christ, how could this be true that I'm forgiven, justified, cleansed, washed? I'm not saying there's a standard to live up to for your salvation because salvation is holy of the Lord.
But when the God of the Bible, the triune God, holy saves, you are going to be different. Romans 14 says that he might be Lord, both of the dead and of the living. Today in the city of David, there has been born for you a savior who is Christ, the Lord.
Jesus isn't savior, and then as a second step of consecration, you make him Lord, especially after you've sown your wild oats, do not be deceived, don't fall for that temptation for your own good, but also for what it does to Jesus out of all the king's king, and he's the king out of all the Lord's Lord, and he's the Lord defames him number six, we better we better speed up.
Number six, I was going to say, but you're more sanctified than the first service. I can preach longer for you. But then I thought simultaneously, maybe you need longer preaching because you're less sanctified.
So I'm not sure which one it is. Whatever it means to you, that's what I just meant. Now, with all joking aside, number six, you will be tempted to believe that hell is too awful to be real. You will be too tempted, you will be tempted to believe that hell is too awful to be real.
And better scholars than me, better Christians most likely than me, are you from John Stott to Philip Hughes have fallen into this. Philosopher Sartre said, hell is people. It's not true. Unless you mean the worst thing about hell is God is in hell.
What makes hell, hell is God there. God is there. Let's go look at Revelation chapter 14. I think the problem with many people is they have a loved one who makes a profession of faith. It's a it's a watered down profession.
And so they have to rearrange what hell means and how long is it? And is there a purgatory? Are there indulgences? Is there annihilation? How much universalism is there? Can Jesus save somebody without them knowing about Jesus?
And the list goes on. We've talked in the last few weeks about the reality of hell. And I just want you to know that if you put your feelings above revelation of God, you're going to want to believe that hell couldn't be so bad.
And it isn't true because it is awful. It's awful. In heaven, Jesus is going to be the great advocate and wonderful savior. And in hell, Jesus is going to be the omnipresent God who's the tormentor judge and eternal executioner.
It's horrible to think about. It should make Christians very glad that they're not going, but it should make Christians very earnest in their public proclamation of Jesus, the only savior. Look at Revelation chapter 14, verses 9 through 11.
Oh, yes. Other passages talk about away from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his might, like 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. This isn't a contradiction. God's mercy isn't in hell. God's kindness isn't in hell.
God's love isn't in hell. But his wrath and his holy justice, the omnipresent God certainly is. Revelation 14, 9. And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will also 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 land. And it's still with a loud voice and the smoke of the torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night.
These worshipers of the beast and its image and whoever receives the mark of its name and frankly, anyone else who's thrown into the lake of fire. Why is it called the lake? Because there's no outlet, because it's horrible.
I've said it a thousand times. Probably I cannot believe in hell unless I submit myself to scripture. Paul taught it. Jesus taught it. John taught it. It's just so horrible. Joseph Elaine said, oh, better were it for you to die in jail or a dungeon or a ditch than to die in your sins.
If death, as it will take away all your comforts, would take away all your sins, there might be some mitigation. But your sins will follow you when your friends leave you. And all your worldly enjoyments shake your hands.
Your sins will not die with you as a prisoner's other debts will, but they will go to judgment with you there to be your accusers and they will go to hell with you there to be your tormentors. Jesus said ominously, Matthew 25, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Submitting yourself to scripture. Number seven. OK, maybe one or two more. Number seven. You will be tempted to wait to serve the Lord, specifically addressing young people right now. You will be tempted to wait to serve the Lord.
Turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 12, please. If you would, you'll be tempted to wait. I mean, I got it all figured out. I graduate from college and then I will get married. I'll have a couple of kids and then I'll serve or I'll do this and I'll do that.
And I'll do the James four thing and figure things out versus, you know, I need to just serve where I am because I don't know how long I'm going to be on this earth. You need to remember the creator in the days of your youth.
Solomon, the wise man said, my favorite thing is, well, one of my favorite things is to watch WPI students come here and the ones that come here and worship on Sundays. Glad to have you because you don't buy into.
Well, I just worship with other students on Friday night. That's my Sunday work. That's my my worship. No, that's just vain imagination. So that's good thinking. But I especially love the ones I've seen.
I don't even know all the ones that I've seen. The Bernard's and the Gladman's and and Andrews and a nitrous and other people. I'm probably forgetting. They come through and they go, you know what? I'm 18.
I'm at WPI. But it is church over parachurch. It is church over the university of the university is WPI University or just college. I don't know. Is it a wheel? Is it a helm? It's funny what people hear, too, because instead of listening to the sermon, I'll get the email or the comment at the door.
By the way, you didn't pronounce Odysseus name correctly. I especially like the students that just say, I've been saved. I've been redeemed and I don't have some kind of work school church compartments.
If it were only that easy, if it were only under the Old Testament. I just save some money and go sacrifice that animal and I'm good to go. But I'm the sacrifice. I'm supposed to be the sacrifice. Look at Romans chapter 12.
I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, chapters one, two, three, all the way through 11, the sovereign grace of God. We had no righteousness. God, the righteous one who righteously requires righteousness, provides righteousness in Christ Jesus, and he declares it to our account.
And he sanctifies us. He doesn't condemn us. He's sovereign. By those mercies, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. I'm not waiting to serve. And this is not a call for everyone to be a missionary in full time ministry.
Oh, it might be a call for some. This is with your life. What does God want? I think he wants your money. He wants you. And if he's got you, then everything else follows a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God.
Which is your spiritual worship. It's logical. It's right. He saved my whole person, body, soul, mind, will, spirit. I give him everything. I like to watch young people who are sold out for the Lord. Shadow of the Almighty, Elizabeth Elliott, putting together Jim Elliott's diary.
And on the top, it would have his age, 15, 14 years old, totally sold out. I thought that's Roman chapter 12. You just don't do that on your own. That's something that's done to you. But you've got a responsibility to follow the Lord.
And one day you're going to be too old to serve. If you live to be old enough. That's why I thought I met Fred Maxine here this week. Talked to Guido and Sarah, to Pietro. And all four of them and many others at the church as well.
But I've just talked to them recently. You talk to them and they'll say, I want to serve more. God has saved me from all my sins and I just want to serve the body. I can't serve Jesus. His body isn't here.
His body isn't in my heart. His body is in heaven. But I want to serve his bride. But you know what? I'm old and I'm feeble and I'm frail. And I said, but isn't it good of God that he motivated you? So now on your deathbed, you don't have to say, I wish I would have served.
I could have served. I should have served more. But you rest there saying, my new service is encouragement. My new service is prayer. Don't wait. Spurgeon said, if I have any message to give you from my own bed of sickness, what do you tell people when you're on your deathbed?
You know, they hover around Luther's bed, hoping maybe if you're a Roman Catholic, then he'll deny the Protestant faith. What will he say? What would Spurgeon say? If you desire to make your sick bed as soft as it can be, do not stuff it with the mournful reflections that you wasted time when you were healthy and strong.
You'll break your constitution, they said to me with preaching 10 times a week. Well, I've done it and I'm glad of it. I'll do it again. If I had 50 constitutions, I would rejoice to break them down in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You young men that are strong, overcome the wicked one and fight for the Lord while you can. You will never regret having done all that lies in you for our blessed Lord and master crowd as much as you can into every day and postpone no work until you graduate from college until tomorrow.
Well, I have many more. You'd be tempted to try to earn God's favor, be tempted to think of the cross as foolishness, be tempted to live for this world only, be tempted to solve your own temptation problems by yourself versus thinking about who Jesus is.
You'd be tempted to want to get rich. You'd be tempted to blame God and many others. But I think that's enough for today. The world is selling its wares. They know how to market product, price, price, place and promotion.
Strap your bodies to the mast of the scriptures and plug your ears with Bible wax. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we exalt your name today. We're so thankful we have a savior who was tempted. But never failed.
Fully human, tried and tempted in so many ways, Adam tempted, fallen, Israel tempted, fallen, we tempted, we fell. And yet today we proclaim there isn't a savior who is tempted with temptations greater than we could ever know.
And he never, ever fell. To temptation. Thank you that we have such a savior. And I would pray for Bethlehem Bible Church. I would pray for the young ones that they would serve while they can. I pray for the older ones that they would just rest in you knowing that they serve when they could.
And Father, we want to make much of you. We want to boast in you. We want your fame not to just increase in Capernaum, but in our homes and next door and at our work. We ask this for your son's sake. Amen.