Rushing on . ( James 4 v 13 - 16 )

Owing to work on a new road lay out in our town, delays in traffic was  inevitable, I was taking a friend to the  train station,and found myself  in a traffic jam. As I came to go right on a roundabout, a car suddenly overtook me  ,it was a very near miss,but thankfully it was a miss.A few thoughts on on this ,first the person who nearly caused an accident ,was in a hurry, and so put himself and me in danger. It appears we live in a age when people are in such a hurry,no time to stop and stare,no time to stop and consider there eternal destiny,they are rushing on ,and sadly the only destination they will reach is a lost eternity.

Hell on earth ( Psalm 22 )

We finished last time by saying that we in our natural state are living under a cloud of God's  wrath,,in the here and now,that will also follow us ,even after death,in hell,from which there will be no escape,.So God did something very ,very, wonderful ,He sent his son , Jesus,who would die on the cross experiencing the wrath of God in our stead, in Galatians 3 v 13 we read, 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us'.Bruce Milne  wrote the following,''For Christ to be a complete and sufficient Saviour He must save us from every effect of our sins......then he must, of necessity, in some way and at some point, bear the pains and terrors of hell.Only thus are we delivered from them.. Thus the cross was precisely ,as Calvin argues, 'hell on earth'.So let me finish now by declaring,'that God so loved the world that he gave is only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish , but have everlasting life .  ( John 3 v 16 )

Consigned to . ( Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 )

Following on from yesterday were we declared how Christ bore the wrath of God on the cross,why?. Let me shift our thoughts to humanity ,we are told that in our unsaved we were by nature deserving of wrath.(Ephesians 2 v 3 ), and that God's wrath remains on us,because we have not accepted Christ as our Saviour.If you re not a Christian at this moment in time you are under the wrath of God ,because of your sinful state. That is here and now you are considered ungodly, and an enemy of God ( Romans 5 v 6 / 10 ),what does that mean?,it means if we die in that state we will be judged ( Hebrews 9 v 27 / Matthew 5 v 27 -  30). In Revelation 14 v 10 - 11 we read of those experiencing the cup of Gods wrath,and the torment that follows.It is all very awful, Bruce Milne writes,'Hell is terrible by any measure and as Jesus indicates ,everything is worth sacrificing in order to avoid it.There is no more terrible prospect conceivable than of being consigned to hell'.

Awful ( 1 Peter 2 v 24 )

We continue looking at I would say, three awful things,Hell ,sin, and Christs suffering,we finished by considering Christs physical Christ, which truly was awful.You may wonder why I quote from Isaiah 52 - 53,as regards Christs suffering,it is because Isaiah received revelation from God,as indeed did David did ,CP Psalm 22 . All that Christ suffered was meant to be,and Christ knew it,and His suffering was a fulfillment of what was foretold.Derek Tidball writes,'Thirteen Old Testament texts are quoted in the passion narratives of the Gospels, of which nine come from the Psalms. Of these nine, five are found in Psalm 22. So exactly does it portray the suffering of our Lord that it has aptly been called the Fifth Gospel.' Yes Christ suffering was awful, it surely was ,but it did not stop there as many liberal people make out,no there was still even more awful suffering He had to experience.For it was a judgement for sin, as Isaiah points out, when he declared ,'Yet it was the Lords will to crush Him and cause him to suffer',( Isa 53 v 10 ) ,in other words Christ was experiencing punishment for our sins. We will continue this next time.

Awful . ( Isaiah 53 )

Hell is not a subject preached on in many pulpits, even though it is clearly taught in the Bible,for many it is to awful and unthinkable,that such a thing should be. So it is ignored and many are relieved ,but let me make it very clear,it exist,ignoring it will not change anything, that is a fact. Why is there such a doctrine in Gods word? ,one could say the thought of hell is awful, to awful to contemplate .Yes it is awful but sin is awful ,and of course many seek to ignore that reality,God does not ignore sin,In order to save humanity,he devised a plan that for him was awful ,but it was the only answer . .Look on the cross see a figure who had been nearly flogged to death,whose bones were protruding ,in Isaiah 52 v 3 ,we read a description of his physical suffering, 'Many were appalled at him, his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness'. yes it was truly awful ,we will continue this next time.

But they said. ( John 3 v 7 )

The verse in Jeremiah 6 v 16 ,ends with the words,'But they said. We will not walk therein',such was the reaction to Gods word,there is a sense of determination in those words. They are saying, no matter what Jeremiah says,we are not for turning,we are going to do things our way. A minister at a dedication service said this to the parents,' that the child was engraved on the palms of Gods hands'(Isaiah 49 v 16 ) ,and that he was a child of God.The message that followed was confusing also, So a dedication service is being used for children to be born again. It must have sounded nice to the parents ,but it  is in reality not true, for Gods word teaches ,that the new birth comes when a person accepts Christ as Saviour,here is what the apostle wrote,', But as many as received Him (Jesus) to them gave He the right to become children of God,. to those who believe in His name,who were born, not of blood,nor of the will of the flesh,nor of the will of man,but of God' ( John 1 v 12 - 13) No one can make a Christian, only God,no ritual can make a person a Christian,the responsibility of a Christian parent is to teach the child the Holy scriptures which are able to to make them wise for salvation,through faith in Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 3 v 15 ). The sad thing is that some minister will not listen,to me ,or even God.

He could do no more. ( John 3 v 16 )

Selwyn Hughes ,wrote,'Increasing numbers of ministers and teachers in today's Church are claiming that the idea of Gods wrath is incompatible with His love', The doctrine of  hell is  awesome and a very serious thing ,it is not a thing to be spoken of lightly,but it is not to be denied . Consider these words spoken by Jesus, yes spoken by Jesus, ' Be afraid of the One who can destroy  both soul and and body in hell'. In Revelation 6 v 16 ,we read,'They call to the mountains and the rocks,Fall on us and hide us from.....the wrath of the Lamb'.This wrath  we read of, is future,but even now we are told in John 3 v 36, 'Whoever ever believes in the Son has  eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them'.Leon Morris writes, 'that there are literally  hundreds of passages in the Bible referring to God's wrath, and the rejection of them all leaves us with a mutilated Bible'.This doctrine is not something that should be ignored,or to expect it to fade away with the passage of time.God who is love, in love did all He could. to save us from the consequences of our sins. (Read John 3 v 16).