What Every Crowd Needs To Hear
Luke 12:49-59
September 29, 2019
I saw a quote from R.C. Sproul this week that resonated. He said:
“We have a generation of people who think they can stand before the judgment seat of God despite their sins.”
What a tragic reality that is.
We read:
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
The Bible is clear when it teaches that every man will appear before God
He will bring every act to judgment, and God will punish men for their sin.
Solomon reminded of this very truth:
Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
And yet for some reason people seem to think that
When they stand before God
Their sin either won’t be seen, or that God won’t care.
Isaiah spoke of this very type of false confidence:
Isaiah 28:14-18 “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.”
Judgment is real.
• Men will give an account before God.
• The standard of His judgment is perfect righteousness.
• The penalty for failing to meet His standard is eternal torment in hell.
The notion of thinking you can stand before God despite your sin
IS A FOOLISH NOTION.
And every man needs to hear this.
Perhaps you remember when Paul went to Athens and was mocked at the Areopagus as an idle babbler who proclaimed strange deities.
Paul’s message for them in response was direct:
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
The message of God to the world is a message of repentance.
It is a message of demanded righteousness.
It is a message of certain judgment.
IT IS THE MESSAGE THAT THE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR.
And it is the message that Jesus is bringing to the crowd in Luke 12 & 13.
If you will remember, Jesus is presently surrounded by a large crowd.
Luke 12:1 “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another…”
And because of this crowd Jesus began to instruct His disciples regarding ministry to the crowd.
• We heard Him warn them about hypocrisy.
• We heard Him warn them about fearing judgment.
• We heard Him warn them about letting a desire for results manipulate them.
But most recently Jesus has reminded them that when they minister,
Everything they do should be done with an eye to the coming judgment.
Jesus reminded His disciples that He would return and when He does all of His slaves will give an account for how they served.
Last week we even heard our Lord reference 4 different types of slaves.
• The Noble Slave – Who is found faithful to the commands of his master when
the master returns.
• The Nasty Slave – who rebels against the master and even begins to beat the
truth servants of the master.
• The Negligent Slave – who knows what to do, but just doesn’t do it.
• The Naïve Slave – who doesn’t know the master or what to do because he is
naïve to the concepts of judgment.
JUDGMENT IS REAL.
And is the next point our Lord desires to really drive home.
I find that fascinating.
Jesus gets a large crowd
And the topic He desires to discuss is judgment.
• He doesn’t talk about prosperity (in fact He warned against it)
• He doesn’t talk about the importance of getting along (He’s going to blow that up in a minute too)
• He doesn’t’ talk to the crowd about how God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life. (You know the basic Jeremiah 29:11 sermon)
Jesus got a big crowd and so Jesus preached judgment.
That is the message that every crowd needs to hear.
And this morning, we listen as Jesus talks to us about judgment.
There are 4 points we take from this text.
#1 THE JUDGMENT JESUS BRINGS
Luke 12:49
This is certainly an interesting verse,
And yet another one that the masses
Would have a hard time believing Jesus actually said.
He said, “I have come to cast fire upon the earth”:
Incidentally, “fire” is a reference to judgment.
It is both a metaphor of judgment
And incidentally the literal form of judgment.
Remember the preaching of John the Baptist?
Matthew 3:10-12 “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
John there spoke of two baptisms that Jesus would bring.
• One would be a baptism of the Holy Spirit – that is salvation.
• The other would be a baptism of fire – that is judgment.
Context in that passage reveals that.
John spoke of fire as being that which burns up the chaff.
Fire in John’s sermon is judgment and Jesus will bring it.
BUT NOT JUST METAPHORICAL FIRE.
JESUS WILL BRING LITERAL FIRE.
Peter speaks of the Lord’s return and day of judgment:
2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
During a Q&A at youth camp this year a student asked John MacArthur about the Christian’s role in preserving the earth and environmentalism.
John MacArthur’s response was: “If you don’t like what humans are doing to the earth today wait until you see what Jesus is going to do to it.”
Peter revealed that He will destroy it
“with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
He will literally “cast fire upon the earth.”
Isaiah 66:15-16 “For behold, the LORD will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For the LORD will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by the LORD will be many.”
In His explanation of the parable of the wheat and the tares:
Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Jesus is bringing judgment.
In verse 49 Jesus reveals that this is one of the reasons for His coming.
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth”
• Part of the work of Jesus is to bring judgment to a sinful world.
• Part of the work of Jesus is to burn up the wicked with unquenchable fire.
• Part of the work of Jesus is judgment.
Certainly Jesus came first to seek and to save that which was lost.
Certainly Jesus came first to serve.
Certainly Jesus came first to be an atoning sacrifice for sinners.
Certainly Jesus is a Savior.
BUT JESUS IS ALSO THE JUDGE.
John 5:22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,”
Jesus came to this earth to save sinners,
But those who remain unredeemed He will destroy with fire.
And perhaps you were already aware of that.
Perhaps you were aware of the fact that after Jesus is finished saving the elect that He will then destroy the wicked.
The SHOCKING PART of the verse is what He says next:
“and how I wish it were already kindled!”
It is the most overlooked concept of God’s nature.
People tend to want to just limit God to one attribute
And sort of throw Him in one camp.
Most of the time in our culture that attribute is love or mercy.
And so mankind rationalizes that since God is loving
And since God is merciful that He cannot also be angry.
And that is not true.
Psalms 7:11 “God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day.”
Of the sinful rebels in the nation of Israel we read:
Psalms 95:9-10 “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.”
Even last Sunday night God spoke to His people who engaged in superficial worship and who approved of the world, God said:
Psalms 50:22 “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.”
We are confronted then with the complexity of God
That He is not limited to one expression at a time,
But God demonstrates His full attributes at all time.
• He is angry and merciful at the same time.
• He is holy and loving at the same time.
• He is Savior and Judge at the same time.
And we even see this reality in Christ.
This man came to save sinners, but at the same time eagerly anticipated the day when He would set fire to this earth.
• Do not forget the holiness of Christ.
• Do not forget the righteous indignation of Christ.
• Do not forget the desire of Christ to return and purify this earth and rule in righteousness.
And don’t assume that judgment won’t come
Because Jesus just won’t be able to bring Himself to do it.
Oh yes He will!
In fact, He said, “how I wish it were already kindled!”
Let that sink in.
It doesn’t mean He doesn’t want men to be saved…He does.
It doesn’t mean He isn’t merciful…He is.
It doesn’t mean He isn’t patient…He is.
But at the same time, in the full mystery of the deity of Christ,
He also has a great righteous longing for the day
When sin is fully defeated and the evil works of this world are burned up.
And He is perfectly just in this!
2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 “For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”
So if you want to take a point from the message
That Jesus is preaching to this crowd…JUDGMENT IS COMING!
It is very much within the nature of our Lord
To return and cast fire upon the earth. You need to know that.
That is the Judgment Jesus Brings
#2 THE JUDGMENT JESUS ENDURES
Luke 12:50
So Jesus announces that there is a certain judgment coming in which He will in fact cast fire upon the earth.
But that judgment is not the next judgment on the timeline.
Jesus reveals another judgment that is coming first.
And this judgment is not one which the world will endure,
It is one that He will endure.
“But I have a baptism to undergo…”
You already saw how the word “baptism” can also be a word indicating the endurance of judgment.
Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Baptism there was a term for judgment and it is here as well.
Jesus has a judgment that He must “undergo”
It is the cross.
And He even says regarding this judgment:
“and how distressed I am until all is accomplished!”
Certainly we see that distress show up in the garden.
Luke 22:41-44 “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”
What we learn here in Luke 12 is that the distress of the cross wasn’t just felt in the garden, it was a distress Jesus bore daily.
Always on His mind was the reality of where He was headed.
In just a short while He would die at the hands of wicked men.
And yet it was NOT the physical torment of the cross that gave Him grief,
It was the judgment of the cross.
On the cross Jesus would bear the full fury of God’s wrath.
For all the sin of all the elect for all time.
We have seen it many times, but it always warrants examination.
Matthew 27:45-46 “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
• As we have often times pointed out the darkness there is very significant since
darkness is that which accompanies the day of the Lord judgment.
• The day of God’s wrath is often referred to as a day of darkness.
• On the cross, Jesus was bearing God’s wrath against sin.
• And just to make sure that you understand that He didn’t simply symbolically
bear it, Jesus actually expresses His grief crying out, “MY GOD, MY GOD,
WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
It is exactly what the prophet foretold:
Isaiah 53:10-11 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”
Jesus bore the sin of many, that is the elect,
And because He bore their sin,
He also endured God’s holy judgment on that sin.
All the fury of God…
All of His holiness ignited…
It was all poured out on Christ.
Isaiah even said, “the LORD was pleased to crush Him”
That is the baptism our Lord is referring to.
• He had a judgment that He must endure.
• It was the judgment of the cross where He would atone for sinners.
And Jesus said, “how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”
“accomplished” there is TELEO which is the same word used in John 19:30.
John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Jesus knew what was coming,
And until He finished His ministry there was distress.
He had a job to do.
He was currently fulfilling the righteous requirements of God (you know that as Active Obedience)
And He would soon bear the full wrath of God’s fury on the cross (you know that as Passive Obedience)
And the point so clearly made here is this:
JUDGMENT IS REAL
• Lest you think the judgment of God is some sort of myth…
• Lest you think that God will at the last moment choose mercy over judgment…
• Lest you think that God doesn’t have it in Him to crush sinners…
Look at the cross!
God was pleased to crush Him!
God totally crushed His Son.
Isaiah 52:13-15 “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.”
Isaiah said He was “marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.”
• God DIDN’T just give Christ “the look” on the cross.
• God DIDN’T offer Jesus a “timeout” on the cross.
• God DIDN’T put Jesus on probation on the cross.
• God crushed Him.
• God marred His appearance beyond human recognition.
• God poured out full fury on Him…His own Son!
And yet you think that when you stand before God
That more than likely He won’t go through with it?
Judgment is coming and Judgment is real.
The world needs to know that.
The Judgment Jesus Brings; The Judgment Jesus Endures
#3 THE JUDGMENT JESUS CAUSES
Luke 12:51-53
Here Jesus addresses some preconceived notions of His disciples.
We know what their expectations where:
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth?”
That’s exactly what they supposed.
Isaiah 9:7 “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
That’s exactly what they thought.
And Jesus corrects them here because
Before that occurs there is another judgment that is coming.
This judgment is in the form of persecution.
And it is part of the judgment of fire the Lord speaks of,
Only here it DOES NOT have to do with consuming His adversaries,
BUT RATHER WITH PURIFYING HIS CHILDREN.
Malachi 3:2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”
Some of the Lord’s fire consumes the wicked,
But some purifies the saints.
And that is a judgment that the Lord introduces here.
(52-53) “for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. “They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Jesus speaks of an intimate persecution.
What you have here are people
Who would rather turn their back on a member of their own family
Than to turn their back on their sin.
• Here we have a man and wife.
• That man and wife have a daughter and a son, and the son gets married.
• We don’t know who the believers are in the story, whether it is the parents or the kids, but what is clear is that some are believers and some are not.
• There is a division that occurs even between parents and child.
And there is a reason.
THERE IS NO FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS.
2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”
John 3:19-20 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
You see this all the time.
• We have a world that constantly calls for everyone to just get along.
• We have a world that claims to want unity more than anything else.
And the world has a plan for how to achieve that unity.
According to the world unity is achieved through TOLERANCE
They think that we achieve unity by
Eliminating judgment and promoting tolerance.
And when we do that we will finally have peace.
The world just wants everyone to embrace the dark.
And to some extent they are true.
If everyone fully tolerated everyone’s sin then there would be a surface type of peace on the earth.
There would be peace with men
But what there wouldn’t be is peace with God.
God is Light and He does not fellowship with darkness.
1 John 1:5-7 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
What is more, we have Jesus “The Light of the World”
Who came to rescue men from darkness.
Colossians 1:13-14 “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
And when He does that, then we also become light.
John 12:36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
Ephesians 5:6-12 “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.”
And because of this the division remains.
The darkness hates us.
John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
And this is the issue that Jesus brings up here.
There is a real judgment that is coming for His disciples.
• They will be hated by the darkness.
• They will be persecuted by the darkness.
WHY?
Because Jesus will save them and make them light
And for that the darkness will hate them.
Now the question arises at this point as to WHY Jesus revealed that here?
• We read basically the same statement in Matthew 10,
• But Matthew 10 is about evangelism and so it makes sense to us that He
would say that.
But here He is clearly talking about judgment,
Why does He bring this up now?
He is making a point:
• When we talk about the judgment you need to know that it is very decisive.
• The judgment is black and white.
• You are either on one side of this thing or the other.
You are either light or you are darkness,
But you can’t be some mixture in between.
You are either in fellowship with God or fellowship with the world.
There are only 2 sides and you are one or the other, but never both.
AND JESUS CAUSES THAT JUDGMENT.
He is the catalyst.
• If He had not come, the world would remain in darkness and we could all just get along.
• But He did come and shined light into the darkness and began to redeem men into the light and this is the cause of judgment.
But mostly you need to see that you can’t be on both teams.
JUDGMENT IS RIGID
It is coming, It is certain, and it is clear.
You are either with Him or against Him.
1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;”
You can’t be in both camps.
That is the Judgment Jesus Causes
The Judgment He Brings, The Judgment He Endures, The Judgment He Causes
#4 THE JUDGMENT JESUS DEMANDS
Luke 12:54-59
In John 7:24 Jesus said:
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
We might also call it DISCERNMENT.
Jesus commands us to “judge with righteous judgment”
Now let me tell you what is happening here.
We have just reached that final break in the sermon.
1) Inspired by a Growing Crowd
2) Inspired by a Greedy Request
3) Inspired by a Genuine Concern
Here is the final leg of the sermon
4) INSPIRED BY A GLARING PROBLEM
The problem is that this crowd is headed for judgment
And they are totally unaware of it.
We have now reached the invitation to this great sermon.
Jesus is now appealing to the masses to believe what He has to say about the judgment and to respond accordingly.
And it begins with them opening their eyes
And having proper discernment.
He starts with their use of discernment in natural things.
(54-55) “And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. “And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way.”
Well they didn’t have Doppler Radar or Weather.Com
But people in Jesus’ day COULD STILL FORECAST THE WEATHER.
• If a cloud built up in the west over the Sea of Galilee they knew “A shower is
coming”.
• And if the wind was blowing from the deserts in the south they knew “It will be
a hot day.”
These people had the ability to recognize things going on around them
And make wise discerning evaluations based on that information.
And yet, regarding Jesus they had totally neglected discernment.
• He had walked among them.
• They had heard Him speak.
• They had seen His miracles.
• And yet they had remained totally undiscerning or unwilling to make the logical decision about Him.
That is why He says:
(56) “You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?”
They readily applied logical discernment to every aspect of life
But refused to do it in regard to Jesus.
Could they not see what was going on?
Surely they could, they just didn’t want to.
(naïve slave)
Jesus said “why do you not analyze the present time?”
What was “the present time”?
• It was the time of salvation.
• It was the days before the judgment arrived.
DO YOU SEE WHAT’S GOING ON?
• We have a holy God who has promised to judge mankind.
• We have a Messiah who will come and cast fire upon the earth.
But before that comes, we first have a Savior who is offering forgiveness.
• We first have a Savior who is offering men a way to be forgiven and saved.
• We have a Savior who is offering men righteousness.
• We have a chance for salvation.
That is what is going on.
And Jesus says that these people refuse to see it.
And He goes on:
(57) “And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?”
• “Why does someone else always have to tell you to think about the coming judgment?”
• “Why does someone else always have to tell you to think about salvation?”
It seems like in view of the certainty of God’s judgment
That you would initiate that thought on your own.
It seems like you’d have the discernment to say,
“You know one day I’ll die and stand before God,
I wonder if there is anything that can be done ahead of time?”
It seems like you’d be wise enough to contemplate that now.
But they weren’t.
And to that Jesus gives an analogy.
(58-59) “For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. “I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”
• The picture is of a man who has a debt that he cannot pay.
• And this man has been grabbed by his opponent and they are headed before the magistrate.
What you need to know is that the man’s guilt is not in question.
HE HAS THE DEBT AND HE CAN’T PAY IT.
And since that is the case Jesus is asking why don’t you “on your way there make an effort to settle with him so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.”?
In short, why don’t you try to settle out of court?
• If you know judgment is coming.
• If you know judgment is certain.
• If you know that judgment differentiates between the righteous and the wicked.
• And if you know that you are one of the wicked.
Then why don’t you try to settle accounts now?
Especially since right in front of you stands a Savior
Who can pardon you and clothe you in His righteousness.
You need to use good judgment.
And this is the beginning of the invitation Jesus is giving to this crowd
And it is a good place for us to pause this morning.
Have you thought about this friend?
Have you realized that judgment is real?
• Jesus will return and burn this world up with fire.
• God will sit on His throne and judge even the secrets of men.
• And those who are guilty will be thrown into the lake of fire.
But in the meantime, there is a Savior.
• His name is Jesus and He is the One who can forgive your sin and clothe you in His righteousness.
It only stands to reason that you would seek Him out before the judgment comes.
And since He can come at any time, and you don’t know the hour of His coming.
• And since death can spring upon any man suddenly.
• It seems like waiting to cry out to Jesus is risky gamble.
Today is the day to cry out to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 6:2 “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
Apart from Him what is your plan for the great day of judgment?
“And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?”
This morning I would echo those words to you.
• Judgment is real and God will do it.
• But there is a Savior at the present time who will forgive you and clothe you in His righteousness
• If you will deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.
And that is a judgment you must make.
That is a decision you must make.
Either to submit to Christ or to stand before God without Him.
As I told you at the beginning regarding the statement of R.C. Sproul
“We have a generation of people who think they can stand before the judgment seat of God despite their sins.”
That is not a wise judgment.
Analyze that today is the day of salvation
And run to Jesus before the judgment comes.
