Different Responses to the Warning

[0:00] So we're going through the book. We're going passage by passage through Exodus. And here we are. We've come up to the seventh plague.

[0:11] And it's on its way. And last week we took a look at the calm before the storm. There's a grievous storm coming of hail and fire mingled with hail.

[0:25] And before God sends that storm, he's going to kind of get some things out that he wants to be heard. Some people need to hear some things. And he's going to say some things again.

[0:38] And so the first thing we saw that he said in verse 13 was he wants his people to serve him. And he says this again and again, let my people go that they may serve me.

[0:48] And he's interested in his people being out of Egypt, not anymore in Egypt, but being delivered from Egypt and getting away from Egypt to serve him alone.

[1:01] And God's still interested in that. As long as they're in Egypt, they're serving Pharaoh. They're not serving him. And God wanted his people to learn to follow him and to learn to hear his voice and to learn to trust him and to learn to go to him and to allow him to work and do things in front of them and before them that they could follow and worship and sacrifice.

[1:25] And that's not getting done in Egypt. So God wants them out. The second thing he wanted was for his name to be known. And we saw that in verses 14, verses 16, that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

[1:36] He said in verse 14 that thou mayest know there's none like me in all the earth. And Pharaoh didn't claim to know the Lord. He said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? And instead of knowing God, he's known to be a worshiper of many idols and many gods.

[1:53] And we ran to the book of Romans and saw that Pharaoh was following the same pattern that every civilization and nation does, that knows God but won't glorify him as God and not thankful and then becomes vain in their imaginations.

[2:07] Their understanding becomes darkened and off they go. Worshipping the creature more than the creator. And that's exactly what these Egyptians were doing. And that's wrong.

[2:18] God deserves to be known. And he created that creature. You shouldn't be worshipping it. You should be worshipping me. And so God deserves to be acknowledged and worshipped.

[2:29] Then the most important thing probably for you in verse 19, the third thing that God said was send now. Send therefore now. Send. Send. And he told his people, he told them to, before the storm comes, to send warning.

[2:42] To get every man, to get every beast and animal out of the field because there's a fire coming. And what a tremendous thought and application that it's the voice of God in verse 19. It's not Pharaoh.

[2:53] It's not Moses. It's not Aaron. It's God saying, send. Get that message out before the storm comes. And get them out of harm's way. Because the Lord's not willing that any should perish.

[3:05] But that all should come to repentance. And what an obligation and a duty it is for us that have heard the voice of God and the call and the command of God to obey his voice. And to stop pretending that you have an excuse.

[3:17] And now we're going to get into something here today that in the next few verses I'm going to back up and just read verse 19 again and then come back to the next 2, 20 and 21. And notice that Moses documents something before the storm ever comes.

[3:33] Something that's worthy of our consideration. So would you follow along in Exodus 9 and just three verses this morning. Verses 19 through 21. Send therefore now and gather thy cattle and all that thou hast in the field.

[3:47] For upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them and they shall die. And now Moses inserts this.

[3:59] He that feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses. And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.

[4:14] Pretty straightforward. Pretty, you know, black and white. You either feared the word of the Lord, you did something about it, or you didn't. And so we're going to just park there today.

[4:24] And before we can move forward into the plague probably next week, we're going to consider these two different responses to the word of God and to the warning of God.

[4:36] And so I want you to just bow and pray with me before we begin with this. God, as we open up this holy, holy book, we believe every word and we trust that these words have application for us today.

[4:50] So, Lord, please be with my mouth and help me to utter only those things that are true and needful and necessary for each person. But, Lord, I pray that you'll take these words and that your Holy Spirit would guide them and embed them in hearts and pierce through things that would be walls that would try to resist it.

[5:11] And, Lord, help us to fear the word of the Lord this morning. I pray that you would get glory from somebody's response. And may you have all the glory. It all belongs to you.

[5:21] We don't want to take anything from you. We love you this morning because of Calvary. And so thank you for the Bible. Thank you now for this time. Please help us to focus on the scriptures and on this truth. And may Jesus Christ be praised.

[5:33] For we ask it in his wonderful name. Amen. Amen. All right. Now, Moses documented two very different responses to the same warning.

[5:44] The warning was given in verse 19. And the command to send. And so the warning got to the men. We saw that in verse 20. The one feared the word of the Lord.

[5:56] And the other one regarded not the word of the Lord. So they got the message. And then the one that feared, he made his servants and cattle flee into the houses. And quite the different response.

[6:08] The other one left his servants and cattle in the field. Now, those are very different responses. But before we get to the differences, I want to point out there are several similarities between these two.

[6:21] And it's because of these similarities, what I'm going to say is that all excuses can be completely eliminated and taken off the table. That anyone would try to throw up to God when the fire comes and pretend like, well, it's not my fault.

[6:36] So I want to show you there's some similarities before we get even to these differences. And number one, let's consider that they both had a similar situation. And so we notice that in verse 20, So they're both, they're all to be considered of the servants of Pharaoh.

[7:01] It's implied in the second verse that we're dealing with somebody with the same situation. They both are servants of Pharaoh. They both possess cattle. They both possess land. They both possess servants.

[7:13] And the point is, we're not looking at one poor, starving, diseased African or some heathen in a remote village in the Amazon and then comparing that to some rich, wealthy, healthy, educated American.

[7:28] That's not the scene here at all. You can see that. They have similar situations. I need to point this out because there's no privilege. There's no difference in status.

[7:41] And what we're going to witness this morning is two very different responses to the same warning from God. But to bring an excuse in like there's some outliers or that there's some external influences or circumstances, that's not going to work.

[7:57] So you understand that. They had the same path in life, if you want to call it that. The same situation. So there's no excuse that one had it better than the other or that to the one something was unfair.

[8:11] That's not, that's off the table right now. Secondly, they both had identical illumination. What's that? Well, there was clear warning given in verse 19 and it was sent.

[8:22] And they both heard it. In verse 20, he that feared the word of the Lord. Verse 21, he that regarded not the word of the Lord. They both got identical illumination.

[8:33] It was evident that God is not targeting your cattle. He is not targeting your servants. He's warning you to get them out. What he is targeting is the agricultural industry of Egypt.

[8:49] He's already done some damage to the cattle earlier in this chapter with the death of those cattle. He's not targeting them this time. He's coming after the, as we noted this last week, those vineyards and orchards and the flax and the barley in verse 31.

[9:09] He's coming after their agriculture. And he presents that very clear, right? Very plain. This is what I'm going to do. And so I recommend you get out of the field.

[9:20] And so I want that to be known as well, that he gave, his intentions were clear. He gave enough time to make a decision and to get the cattle and to get the servants out of the field.

[9:32] So that all tragedy in that regard could be avoided. Completely avoided. God's innocent. You notice that they both received the same warning. It wasn't straight to the one and watered down to another.

[9:46] So that's gone. We can take that excuse away. It wasn't clear to one and confusing to another. No. Nobody was confused. They both heard. They both understood the situation clearly.

[9:58] Right? Now just the same, could I say that God has clearly, clearly explained and clearly expounded his warnings, his will, his intentions.

[10:13] He's expounded or given his word. The word of the word. The word of the Lord is what we're talking about in these verses. God has given the word. The Bible says that the Lord gave the word.

[10:24] Great was the company. And then they published it. And that word has been published. Incredibly published. You know that the word of God has been in existence for literally thousands of years.

[10:36] And it's been mass printed for hundreds of years. Hundreds. It's not something that just showed up. Now if you've ignored it or you've not been, it's not been in your family line and culture, that's one thing.

[10:52] But it's not because it wasn't available. I want you to consider this, that the word of God is the most printed and the most widely available information on the planet.

[11:05] You go ahead and challenge that statement. Put something up that's higher against it. The word of God has been the most printed material ever.

[11:18] And it is the most widely available information. I know you're going to think, well what about somebody way down in some... It's kind of interesting that you see some pictures about poverty and people and they have cell phones.

[11:29] And they couldn't get a $10 Bible. But they get a cell phone. But that's something totally different. This information has been the most widely available in the history of civilization.

[11:43] You can't find a greater published source or material than this book. It doesn't exist. It's evident that it's the word of God. It's something supernatural about that.

[11:54] It's the hand of the Lord. Now lost sinners are going to be cast into hell. When they stand before God and are judged and are found without Jesus Christ and without a covering for their sins.

[12:09] And they're going to say, well I didn't think this place existed. Or they're going to say, well I didn't think that it would be somebody like me would go here. I didn't think I was bad.

[12:23] What did you think? I hate to borrow this phrase from the world. But one old wrestler used to say, it doesn't matter what you think. Because it doesn't matter what you think.

[12:37] What did God say? His word has been published. His word has been pronounced for ages. And it's available. People are going to think that, well I didn't know hell existed.

[12:50] I didn't believe it. Well it's because they didn't give heed to the warning. To the warning that existed within reach of every day of their life. And they went right past it. And right past it.

[13:01] And right past it. And got glued to the television screen. And didn't go after the word of God. I might also note here, not just lost Christians that are going to be cast into hell.

[13:12] Are going to regret not giving heed to the warning. But there are Christians that play with sin. And fool around with the world. They're going to find out that they're not going to get away with that either.

[13:23] Mark that down too while we're on it. The word of God and the warnings of God have been pronounced. And you can ignore it if you want to. But it will catch up to you. Your sin will find you out. Now getting back to these.

[13:36] How unnecessary. How unnecessary would it be for any man or animal to die in this plague. When God gave warning.

[13:46] He sent the warning. And the warning was received. And how unnecessary is it for any sinner. To be condemned to hell and pay for their sins in eternity.

[13:57] When the Lord Jesus Christ came down. And took that sin. The very sin on his own soul. And made complete payment for that sin. How unnecessary it is for any sinner to go to hell.

[14:13] It's just not necessary. It's avoidable. It's completely avoidable. Any man, woman or child that rejects Christ and finds their way into hell.

[14:26] It was avoidable. Because they had illumination. The word of God has been put forth. God's intentions and his plans and his decree and his warnings.

[14:37] And his rescue. And his way of escape. It's all been printed. And it's within reach. It's so close. As a matter of fact, it's even closer than just having a Bible.

[14:48] The Bible says that the word is nigh thee. Even in thy mouth, that is the word of faith. It's that close. The third thing I want you to see. Their similarities. They both had a similar situation.

[15:00] They both had identical illumination. And thirdly, they both had opportunity for salvation. There was available shelter. There was a way of escape. In verse 19, he told them that if they are not brought home, that the hell is going to get on them.

[15:15] They're going to die. In verse 20, the one that feared the word of the Lord brought his servants and cattle into the houses. The other one didn't. But there was available shelter.

[15:26] There was a way of escape. One wasn't privileged. And the other disadvantaged. That's not the case at all. They both had knowledge. And they both had access to the refuge.

[15:40] So nobody had to die that day. Nobody. Nobody. No man, no beast had to be pummeled by the hail. They didn't have to be burned alive by the fire that ran upon the ground.

[15:52] In verse 23, salvation was available. They both had opportunity for salvation. You realize the Bible says that the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men.

[16:06] You know, as I've already said, God's message is not hidden. His salvation is not hidden. Jesus Christ died publicly. Publicly.

[16:17] An open spectacle. And it's been documented and recorded more than a few times. The Lord Jesus Christ made his gospel plain and simple.

[16:29] The scripture says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In John 3, 16, Whosoever believeth in him should not perish. There is no limits and there is no restrictions.

[16:42] If you're a sinner, guess what? You qualify. Opportunity is available. If you're seeking refuge from the fire, it's available in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[16:54] And it was available for both of these. These both men had opportunity to escape the fire. Now there's three similarities. You saw them. They're very plain. And it just, it wipes away any excuse to say that one had an advantage the other didn't have.

[17:09] Not the case. Similar situations. Both had illumination and they understood. And they both had a way of escape. They had opportunity for salvation. So that's what they had in common.

[17:21] So any attempt to justify the way things, the outcome to one man or the other, it's taken off the table.

[17:32] Now let's look at some differences. Verse number 20, He that feared the word of the Lord. Verse 21, He that regarded not the word of the Lord.

[17:44] What's the difference? Well, let's say number one, that each had different opinions about the word of God. They had a different opinion about the word of God. If the one that feared, if the one that regarded not obviously didn't fear it.

[17:58] Why would I listen to that? Why would I care? Why would I listen anymore as the one's opinion about the word of the Lord? Obviously, he did not fear it.

[18:09] The warning went in one ear and went right out the other ear. Now why would anybody, could we pause? Why would anybody not fear the word of the Lord and the warning of God after six plagues had already just one after another just slowly destroying this land?

[18:32] They just had boils. They were just smitten with boils. That was real. They're just coming off of that. Do they want more?

[18:43] Why would anybody disregard the warning and not believe it to be true and not regard it as if I should do something about it? Why?

[18:54] I can only think of one answer. Because we already know that they weren't disillusioned. They had illumination. It was all plain. So why? They've already had experience tasting the wrath of God.

[19:08] Anything makes sense to me. And there's something that's kind of consistent in this story is the hardened heart. From Pharaoh to even in chapter 10 verse 1, his servants, that the people are hardened.

[19:25] And the word pride is the only thing that really seems to make sense. It's a theme of the scripture of fallen wicked man is pride. Could it be pride?

[19:38] It's not ignorance. And it's not a lack of opportunity. So could it be pride that would cause a man to regard not the word of the Lord after he's already experienced such horror?

[19:49] Pride is a horrible, horrible, wretched thing. It is such a destructive thing in your life and mine, in your relationships and mine.

[20:07] And it's going to be something that's going to damn people's souls to hell because they are too proud. Because they wouldn't humble themselves and take care of what they needed to take care of the whole time.

[20:21] Sinners hear the word of God. They hear salvation's available, that Christ died for their sins. And they say, I don't need it. Why? Because I'm a good person.

[20:32] And they buck up against that message and say, who do you think you are to tell me? Or they look back and they see their family. They see my mom and dad were good people and I'm just like them.

[20:43] And they just go that direction and they resist an offer of eternal life and forgiveness of sins. For what? So I can hold on to something that I think is good.

[20:56] I can hold on to something that's really of no value to me, but I'm going to roll the dice. Pride. Pride in man is a horrible, horrible thing.

[21:08] I want you to notice something in regards to this man. We're looking at their differences, the difference of opinion about the word of God. And this one that disregarded the warning.

[21:18] Understand that that disregarding of the word of God had no bearing on the authenticity of the warning. The word proved to be true. The hail the next day showed up.

[21:31] The fire showed up and the death showed up as it describes in verse 25. So disregarding the warning meant nothing.

[21:43] Ignoring it did not negate its validity. And so let that be true today where people say, well, I don't believe all that stuff. And that's good for you, but keep it. I don't need it.

[21:53] You can have your religion. I'll just go my way. And I think this and I believe all things happen. So disregarding the word of God is not going to change the fact. Matter of fact, keep your place here, but go to Romans chapter 3.

[22:06] I'll give you one cross-reference here. We've got plenty of time for this. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3.

[22:26] Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Do people actually believe that because they don't want to hear it, do they actually justify in their mind that I don't believe the Bible's true and I don't believe in Christianity and the Lord Jesus Christ?

[22:42] So therefore, that just negates it all. And the Muslims believe their way and the Mormons believe their way and the Hindus believe their way and atheists believe their way.

[22:57] And why should I believe you over that? And do they honestly believe that because there's so many differing of opinions that that negates the truth?

[23:09] Why don't men seek truth? What is it about a person that doesn't want truth but would rather be confused or just be able to hide? That's what it is.

[23:20] They want to hide where it's muddy. If I can stay in the muddy water, then I can't actually see my condition. But if I let the light shine, you know what the Gospel of John said?

[23:33] That men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light. He wants it to be made manifest. He wants to know that it's wrought in God.

[23:46] But here's a question, or here's a passage that bears some light on this situation here. Because somebody doesn't believe, does that negate the authenticity of the warning?

[23:57] Of course not. I'll start in verse number one. What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? The answer is much every way.

[24:10] Chiefly, I'll give you the number one reason. Because unto them were committed the oracles of God. So if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't even have the Word of God. So yeah, they've got quite an advantage.

[24:20] But then moving on to verse three. For what if some did not believe? Shall their faith, or sorry, shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

[24:33] And the answer is plainly, God forbid. No way. Somebody's unbelief doesn't do a thing to the truth.

[24:43] You can lie about it. You can ignore it. You can walk away from it. It doesn't change the fact. What if some did not believe?

[24:54] Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Absolutely not. Verse four. God forbid. Yea, let God be true. And every man a liar. That is, if a man opposes God's message of truth, and he doesn't believe it, well then he's the liar.

[25:11] And let that be the case, by the way. Let God be true. And everything that any man ever says. If he's against the Word of God, consider him a liar.

[25:21] Don't follow him. So differing opinions of man have zero bearing on the truth of God. Zero bearing on the Word spoken by Almighty, Eternal, Holy God.

[25:37] How you feel, how it relates to you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Nonsense. Meaningless. The book. The truth. It's established. You're not going to change it.

[25:49] God help you. Don't change it. Alright, coming back to this in Exodus chapter 9. The differences. One, there is a differing opinion about the Word of God. And the second thing, very obvious.

[26:01] There's different responses to the Word of God. Each had different responses to the Word of God. Will you notice in verse 20 that he that feared the Word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses.

[26:19] Just stay there and let that come alive to you. That one that feared the Word of the Lord, his response was in urgency. He made them flee into the houses.

[26:31] Can you see them running out and calling out to the servants and sending them out and this is like Operation Code Red. This is what we practiced. This is, you know, the fire drills in school.

[26:43] That's what's happening. And they're, get them in! Get them in! There's some ruckus and some shouting and some urgency out there in this pasture. Get them in.

[26:53] Quickly. Round them up. You could probably imagine overhead there's some clouds building and starting to cover the sun. And it's coming. It's coming. Let's go.

[27:03] Let's hurry. Move them. There's no time for dilly-dallying. There's no time for conversations about things that don't matter. Get them in now. Urgency.

[27:16] The one that feared the Word of the Lord made his servants and cattle flee into the houses. The storm came and destroyed everything in its path.

[27:28] And I imagine that man, though it was hard to watch his fields being burned, it was hard to watch all of the labor and be destroyed, it was somewhat comforting to know that he got them in, that he spared his cattle, the ones that remained, didn't lose them too, spared his servants' lives.

[27:48] I bet they were happy because just next door there was tragedy and there was weeping and crying. And in verse number 21, he that regarded not the Word of the Lord left his servants and cattle in the field.

[28:06] The one that disregarded responded in apathy. The one with urgency, the other in apathy. What did he do? He took no action at all. I mean, he just left them there.

[28:17] Didn't speak a word. Didn't go, just went about business as usual, catering to maybe even some important stuff, some real important work on the farm, but was it as important as getting the servants and cattle in?

[28:31] Should maybe he have changed his mind about what was important in his life and considered what God was telling him to avoid the judgment and the pain and the wreck? He disregarded and the result was hailstones and fire and death.

[28:50] He can't say, I didn't know. He can't say, I didn't understand. He can't say, I didn't have ample time and I didn't have ample warning because all those excuses have been eliminated.

[29:02] What he must admit, what he must acknowledge is I did not believe the word of God. I didn't believe it was true. I chose to ignore it.

[29:14] The warning. I just did nothing and now I can't undo the tragedy. I have to suffer with it. You know, there's a gospel track. I don't know if it's ever made its way here and through this church.

[29:27] There's a gospel track and on the front of it is a picture of red or orange, yellow, red flames of fire, like real fire and it says, what must I do to go to hell?

[29:39] Question mark. What must I do to go to hell? And when you open it up, it's completely blank and white and across the bottom has these words, the answer is nothing.

[29:54] And if you flip it to the back, it gives you the gospel. But the point is plain, you're a sinner. You're on your way to hell. He that believeth not is condemned already. And the warning comes out that Jesus Christ is going to send you to hell.

[30:09] Your soul is going to be damned. You need to trust Him. There's an opportunity for salvation. There's a way out. What must I do to be saved?

[30:21] Well, that reminds me of somebody in the Bible in Acts 16. And the answer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. What must I do to go to hell? Nothing. Just keep on doing daily business as normal.

[30:35] You're already condemned if you haven't believed on Christ. Is God unfair for that? No, He gave you the warning. He told you the truth. He told you why you are the way you are. He told you what He's going to do about it and who He is.

[30:50] What must I do to be saved? That's the question. The last thing of their differences is there were different opinions about the Word of the Lord, different responses to the Word of the Lord, and then thirdly, different outcomes.

[31:06] And we don't have to really spend time on that. You get the idea pretty clearly. There was safety in the refuge of the house, and there was tragedy by staying out in the field.

[31:18] And I suppose we'll get to that next week, Lord willing, to the tragedy, to the storm, to what it actually was. There was a different outcome for each man.

[31:29] Similar men, but different. Similar situations, identical illumination, both had opportunity for salvation, but different opinions about the Word of God made all the difference.

[31:48] And because of that different opinion about the Word of God, there were two completely different results or responses, which led to two completely different outcomes. And brother or sister, saved or lost, whoever you are here this morning, not much has changed from that scene right there.

[32:09] You have an opportunity to know the truth, to believe the truth, to receive the truth, and the decision has always been yours. God will never force you to do something you don't want to do.

[32:23] He allows you a choice. He gives you an opportunity. Take it or leave it. If you leave it, here's what's going to happen. If you take it, you'll be spared.

[32:36] Here's what will happen. I wonder if there's anything that we can take away from this. I know and believe many of you are saved.

[32:46] So what can you take away from this? Beyond just the bare bones gospel truth of Christ being our salvation from the fire that's coming, will you acknowledge this?

[33:03] Will you acknowledge that the word of God is always right and always true and it makes no difference, not one bit of difference at all, who out there agrees?

[33:16] Who accepts it or who acknowledges it? Will you personally identify with this book as if this thing is holy and this thing is true?

[33:28] What God said is right and if somebody out there says something against it, let God be true and every man, woman, a liar. Will you take that away in acknowledging that where man differs from God, we'll let God be true.

[33:44] So we're just going to agree with God. I don't care what religion says. What does the Bible say? Let's build our lives and our beliefs from the word of God alone.

[33:56] I don't care what other churches are doing. I don't care what governments are doing. I don't care what senators or congressmen are pitching or suggesting or what the world is lauding as this is the right way to be and the way to think and the way to treat people.

[34:09] I don't care about any of that, especially if it's going against what God said. Let God be true. Let's take that away. And then secondly, will you act upon the warnings, upon the instruction that is given to you in this book?

[34:28] You say, well, I'm saved. Well, then you've acted on that one. Praise the Lord. Will you act on the rest where God deals with your heart, where God gives you instruction, or will you disregard it and say, well, I'll take heaven because that's a good deal.

[34:44] I don't want to go to hell. That's wise. Take that free gift. But then will you let pride come in and disregard the other ones and say, well, there's nothing wrong with that.

[34:58] I'll just do it anyway. Or they're doing it. Nobody cares. And I can be my, will you let pride come in and resist the word of God? Please don't imagine that you can get around what God said because judgment is coming.

[35:17] A song that we sing says, judgment is coming. All will be there. Each one receiving justly his due. Hide in the saving, sin-cleansing blood and I will pass over you.

[35:34] This morning, if you've never been saved, there's a refuge in Jesus Christ. You can run to him. You can take him alone and he'll take you. You.

[35:44] Not us. You. He'll take you. He'll wash you of your sins and he'll keep you sheltered from the storm that's coming. You won't go to hell because if you're in Christ, he's already been there.

[35:57] He's already paid for it. He's not going back. If you're in Christ, you're safe. And we use the word you're saved. There's salvation in Jesus Christ if you've never experienced it.

[36:08] There's an escape from the fire. If you are saved, then God help you not to live like this fool in the book of Exodus that disregarded the word of God and acted like, I'll just take what comes my way.

[36:25] I'll just deal with it when it happens. You're going to regret it. your best option, the only option, if I were you, is to fear the word of the Lord in all ways.

[36:38] One last verse from the Proverbs. Proverbs 13 and verse 13. The Bible says, Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed, but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

[36:53] That applies to a whole lot in the Christian life just as much as it does in salvation. Let's bow our heads. In a moment, we'll be dismissed with your heads bowed and your eyes closed.

[37:04] I'm asking some questions this morning. Are you know for sure you're on your way to heaven? I don't know everybody here and of everybody here, I do seem to know, I don't know your heart.

[37:16] I surely don't know if God is your Savior and has washed you of your sins, if you've called on the name of Jesus Christ and believed on Him. I don't know that. And so I want to put that forth this morning.

[37:29] You saw two paths, two decisions, and you're making the same decision. Will you receive Jesus Christ? Will you take advantage of the opportunity of salvation?

[37:41] Or will you wait till it's too late and the fire comes and you're left with regret and remorse and damnation? You realize in the book of Luke there's somebody in the fire and he wants to get out but he can't.

[38:02] And he wanted the Lord or he wanted Abraham to send somebody to his brethren. When people get caught in that fire and they can't get out, they don't want anybody else coming.

[38:16] If you've gotten into the salvation of Jesus Christ, you ought to think the same way, I want everybody coming here. If you're not sure that you're saved, let today be the day.

[38:35] Let's not leave this place without talking about it and sitting down with the word of God and getting it settled today. If you have doubts, let's get them settled. Let's put it out and make sure you're in Christ.

[38:48] Christian, if you're playing around with sin or if you're disregarding the word of God, you're going to regret that too. You can make a choice. You can stop dead in your tracks and turn to the Lord and fear the word of the Lord.

[39:01] You better start believing that book. You better start believing what God said. It wasn't in vain. It's pure truth and you can't get around it.

[39:12] But you can acknowledge it and you can walk with Him. Fathers, we come to the close of this morning's message. I want to first say thank you for Jesus Christ.

[39:26] Thank you for the refuge in Him. Thank you for forgiveness of sins for eternity.

[39:38] Never to fear hell. Never to fear the judgment. Lord, I know that your book says you're angry with the wicked every day. Oh God, give us a burden for the souls in our lives.

[39:53] And Lord, on that same note, give us a healthy fear of the word of God that we would desire to know you and to trust you and to walk with you and let every man be a liar.

[40:09] Teach us to put our faith in your book and to put it in practice in our walk. Lord, if there's anybody here that doesn't know they're on their way to heaven, they're not saved or they're not sure, please give them the courage to address that this morning and to do something about it and to walk out of here with the peace of God in their heart.

[40:30] Lord, please give your people victory over sins in their lives. I pray that we'd see ourself in this story as he that feared the word of the Lord.

[40:43] I want to fear your word. That's what I want my testimony to be. Put that on my gravestone that I feared your word. I love you, Lord.

[40:56] Thank you for my brothers and sisters here. Thank you for freedom and an opportunity to serve you in this life. God, please continue to draw us closer to you.

[41:09] Give us victory over sins in our life. Give us strength and wisdom and courage to continue on until you call us home. We pray for this in Jesus' name.

[41:22] Amen. Amen. Let's stand together. Where are we at? Three. Three. Three.