Sing about, would we?
I mean, stop and think about it.
The truth of the matter is, I've only been to one Ohio State game,
and I sat where I needed an oxygen mask.
! I mean, it was really high.
I did bring 10 power binoculars so I could see what was happening on the field.
And my takeaway from that is,
why sit on cold aluminum benches where you have to use binoculars and you...
By the way, to buy water there was like $3 for a bottle.
I can get it in my kitchen for free.
And a hot dog.
I mean, I don't even think it was made by who knows who.
But it was, you know, like $5 for one of those things.
Forget it!
And the thing that really kind of, I thought, what is this all about?
When the game was all over, they sang that Carmen Ohio.
You know, it's like, big deal.
I mean, you know, I mean...
Gary, forgive me, brother.
Okay.
For some of you who don't know, Gary is a lifelong usher at the OSU games,
and he does get fired up.
You can ask him in July how many days to starting,
but, you know, listening to you sing,
I love that.
But then I love being able to say this.
Let's just open the book.
I want you to turn your Bibles this morning to John chapter 8, verse 21.
So he said to them again,
I am going away, you will seek me,
and you will die in your sin.
For I'm going, you cannot come.
Let's pray.
Father God, for us, prayer is not at all just an exercise
or an expression of habit.
But it is our life.
It is a clear indication of our glad dependence upon your sufficiency.
And I can't help but think this morning of the passage in Zechariah chapter 4
where the prophet uttered these words,
not by power nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.
And I am thankful that you have given to us,
who are your children, the spirit who indwells us.
And it is by the spirit's power that I trust to preach the glory of Christ this morning
and by the spirit's power that your people would receive it
and allow the sweetness of the word to lift their hearts away
from being self-focused and gloomy in the midst of the world
that you've placed us to be candles.
And by your spirit's power that those that are here that do not know Christ
to be drawn to see that the darkness and the despair
and the ugliness of their life has no remedy
apart from repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus
who came to be the Savior of the world.
And Lord, I'm thankful that as I preach
that I fully know that your people will pray for me
that you might be lifted up.
And we pray this because of Jesus.
Amen.
Well,
every day that I sit in my office,
across my office is on the east,
my desk is on the east side,
and on the west side is the wall that faces out on the parking lot,
and there are two signs that I look at every time I look up.
One sign says this,
how does this testify to Christ?
And I think it's fair to say that really at the heart of what Bible preaching is,
is the responsibility and the privilege of lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ
that He alone might have preeminence.
Never should a pastor long to hear you say,
wow, that was really good.
What He should long to hear you say is,
thank you for exalting Jesus this morning.
Because here's the truth,
everyone who ever stands in this place
to minister the Word of God to you who are His people
is at best an earthen vessel.
You know why it's that way?
Well, here's what it says in the Bible,
and we have nothing else to rely upon for absolute clarity
other than the Bible.
Amen?
You know, you guys are moving a little bit
towards being a little best, a little stalling, you know.
But not everybody's going to be like me.
I admit it.
You know, I'm thankful.
But, you know, every now and then, just let it rip.
I mean, not now.
Just hold on.
Look at me!
I don't want you to be any more passionate
and zealous for the glory of Christ.
Well, I do.
But at least kind of do this.
If you get kind of fired up about a basketball game
or a football game,
what is holding you back in the presence of God's people
in relationship to the glory of Christ?
You did better.
Okay.
But anyway, here we go.
The goal of preaching is the glory in the person of Christ.
And so, the faithful preaching of the Word
means making Jesus clear.
It means relying upon the Spirit of God
to take the revealed Word
and press it into the hearts of people
so that, for one, they may come to know Christ
and that they may grow to be like Him.
I have to explain,
and bear with me as we kind of wind into this,
but we'll get there.
biblical preaching is not really the mind,
the work of a witty mind,
nor is it the ability to repackage what the world thinks
regarding how to live happier lives
or be more self-satisfied or self-focused
or wrapped up in your pets and your projects.
It is really about helping you understand the glory
and the supremacy of Christ
who will inhabit all of eternity,
and you and I, when we are in His presence,
will join the throng with unbelievable enthusiasm,
rejoicing in His person.
Right?
And the goal of preaching is to lift up Jesus
so that instead of being here unhappy and moody
because we're focused on ourself,
we lift up our eyes and see Jesus and say,
Lord, thank you for what you've done in saving me,
and till you draw me home,
I want to be a candle for your glory.
Amen.
I say this because this morning's sermon is a hard one,
but it comes from the mouth of Jesus.
I want you to take just a moment
and put your finger on one little statement
that Jesus repeats three times.
Verse 21,
Verse 24,
You will die in your sin.
Verse 24,
You will die in your sin.
The phrase is stunning.
It's a sobering reminder
of eternal judgment and hell
and the terrible everlasting consequences
of rejecting Christ.
So if I were to give you a one-sentence summary
of what this morning's sermon is all about,
let me tell you this.
Jesus came to save us from our sins
and deliver us from the holy wrath of God
against our sin.
That being said, let's look at the text
and recognize that what we are being told here
is that the offer of salvation ends at death.
Let me read the verse.
So he said to them again,
I'm going away
and you will seek me
and you will die in your sin.
Where I am going,
you cannot come.
We should understand that by this point
in John's gospel,
what we have seen is that
Christ's ministry had come fully to the forefront
and people who were listening to him preach
understood what he was saying.
There was a growing hatred
for what Jesus had to say.
There was grudging admission
that his miracles were authentic
and there was nothing,
nothing that people could do
to deny the truth
of what his ministry was.
And I want you to understand
that every step
of Christ's public ministry
and gospel offer
was resisted
as you work your way through the book.
He fed the throng
on the Sea of Galilee.
Following that,
he took advantage
of that great crowd of people
to preach a clear gospel message
in which he made it clear
that faith in him
was the only way to heaven.
And what was the result
of the clear preaching of the gospel?
We understand that what happened was this,
is that the vast majority of people
walked away and left him.
They said,
this is a hard saying.
If you think hearing the news
that there is no salvation
through any means
except in Jesus is hard,
it's far harder to hear
the rest of the sentence
where Jesus says this,
and those who do not believe me
will spend eternity in hell.
We see not only that he preached there
by the shore of Galilee,
we also see that
in the Feast of Tabernacles
he came up
and he said,
listen,
I am the bread of life
in six and in seven
and eight
we find there
that he comes in
and he says,
I'm the light of the world.
And instead of receiving
that statement,
understanding it
in the biblical
and messianic context
of the scriptures,
the response that the crowd had,
in particular the religious leaders had,
was that they accused him
of petty self-deception
and dishonesty.
And it is in that frame
that we hear this
very chilling announcement,
I am going away
and you will seek me
and you will die in your sin.
There are several things
that deserve our attention
as we think about this statement.
For one,
the offer of salvation
will end at some point
for every man.
The offer of salvation
will end
for every man.
One,
when Jesus spoke
of going away
he wasn't speaking
about going to another town.
He was speaking
about his own death
but in a larger sense
he was also speaking
of the fact
that his purpose
for being there
as the savior of the world
and the offer of salvation
that he made
through believing
in his finished work
on the cross
would someday
come to an end.
And this ending
happens in a sense,
in a present sense
when individuals
repeatedly refuse
to respond
to the sweetness
of the gospel.
Let me have you look
at a passage
where we see
how God kind of
lets people go
the path they want.
turn over in your Bible
if you will
to Romans chapter 1.
You're there
in John chapter 8
but just skip ahead.
Romans chapter 1.
The apostle writes this
in verse 21.
He says,
For although they knew God
they did not honor him
as God
or give thanks to him
for they became
but they became futile
in their thinking
and their foolish hearts
were darkened.
See,
make no mistake,
recognize that the truth
of the word of God
is that every man
receives ample insight
and light
with which to come
to grips with the reality
of their own dark soul.
Friday,
as I had
an extended opportunity
to share the gospel
with an individual,
it was very interesting,
this individual
was clear
in his own thinking
of how dark
the world was
around him.
He was also
clear in his own thinking
of just how dark
and deceitful
his own heart was.
And I said to him
over and over again,
you really don't need
any more evidence
of just how desperately
you need the work
of Christ in your life
because things are a mess.
And here's the truth
that we need to recognize.
when men repeatedly
refuse to listen
to the word
that God gives them,
calling them
out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
God says,
go ahead,
go your way.
Look at Romans 1,
verse 24.
It says this,
therefore God gave them up
in the lusts
of their heart
to impurity.
In verse 26,
for this reason,
God gave them up
to dishonorable passions.
And in 28,
and since they did not
see fit to acknowledge God,
God gave them up
to a debased mind
to do what
ought not to be done.
I want you to understand
this morning
as we look at this passage
that it tells us
that what happens
is individuals
can turn their back
on the sweetness
of the gospel
and God says,
go ahead,
you go,
you go.
And I don't know
as I preach this morning
and I'm going to
make an appeal to you,
if you're sitting here
and you do not know Christ,
I would plead with you
in Christ's stead,
do not refuse
the offer of salvation
that he makes to you.
Why?
Because he may just say,
hey, go ahead.
But in a more certain way,
I want you to understand
that the final offer
of salvation
ends forever at death.
It says in Hebrews 9,
verse 27,
it is appointed
for man once to die
and after that
comes judgment.
Can I tell you something
if you're sitting here
thinking,
well,
there'll be another time,
there'll be a later moment
and maybe after I've lived
my life,
I'll kind of step in
and grab the brass ring
at the very moment
when I'm ready to pass.
I don't know
if you know this,
but in the theology
of the Middle Ages,
particularly affected
by Catholic thinking,
the best way to die,
are you listening to me
so you understand this?
The best way to die
was to be baptized
moments before you
slipped into eternity.
Why is that?
Their thinking was
the baptism washed away sins.
We're going to have
four people baptized
this morning
and I've got to tell you
not one of them
is getting their sins
washed away.
That was done
by the blood of Christ.
That was done
by their faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But anyway,
in that old Middle Ages
thinking,
the best time
to be baptized,
in fact,
many, many people
just kind of delayed it
to the last minute
and they're like,
whoop,
get a bath
and off you go,
right?
So,
that's not true.
What is true,
though,
is that at death
it's over.
As it says here
in the scriptures,
after that,
the judgment.
Now let's come back again
to that passage
in John
because I want you
to look at it
just for a moment
and recognize
that Jesus is speaking
to people
whose hardened hearts
had resisted
every gospel appeal
that had been made
and here's what he says,
you will die
in your sin.
He was speaking
of the fact
in broad terms
there are two ways
to die.
How many of you
thought about that?
I remember
when Tom Parsons,
bear with me,
Linda,
if I may speak
of your dear husband,
Tom Parsons
wrote eloquently
about how he would die,
I mean not that he would die
but he,
I remember Kathy,
where is Kathy?
Is she in here
this morning, Kathy?
Oh yeah,
well you know,
Mandy you're here,
I'll blame you.
I don't know
how Kathy read
the chapter
from the book
that Tom had written
during his lifetime
about dying.
He talked about dying
in a fiery car wreck
or dying just
you know
at home
and truth of the matter
is if anybody
gets to choose
how they go,
I want Tom's way.
Kind of raised up in bed,
took a gasp
and he was gone.
That's me,
I want that one.
Here's the deal,
we only get to die
two ways.
What do you mean?
Well you may die
in the Lord.
You may die
in the Lord.
It was my privilege
last week
to do
Barbara Armstrong,
her name is Friday
in case you're wondering,
do Barbara Armstrong's funeral
and I talked about
the fact that
in the scripture
it says,
blessed are all they
who die in the Lord.
It's not a bad thing
to die in Jesus,
do you understand that?
I love here,
I like being around you,
I love my bride,
but I have no hesitation
about when the call comes,
I'm going.
You know why?
It says this,
absent in the body,
present with the Lord,
it will get better.
This is not as good
as it gets.
And in Revelation chapter 14
verse 13 it says,
blessed are they
who die in the Lord Jesus.
That's the one way.
You may die in your sin.
John chapter 8
verse 21,
he said to them,
I'm going away
and you will seek me
and you will die
in your sin.
Verse 24,
I told you
that you would die
in your sins
for unless you believe
that I am he,
you will die
in your sin.
What is the significance
of that?
Well, I want you
to understand this.
Hell is the permanent
home of sinners.
Look at the passage.
Here's what he says.
Verse 21,
you will die
in your sins
where I am going
you cannot come.
The person who dies
in their sin
will not spend
eternity
in the presence
of Christ.
It is the reality
of hell.
It is the certainty
of the holy judgment
of God
that makes
gospel issues
so profoundly
significant
that we
who by God's
grace
have been
delivered
from darkness
and drawn
into his kingdom
have an unrelenting
interest in seeing
other people
come to Christ.
Isn't that true?
I want you
to understand
that
what Jesus
was saying
here
is that
those who die
without faith
in Christ
will spend
eternity
in hell.
those who die
in their sin
will spend
forever
in that state.
And how can I
say this?
Well,
here's the truth
and I want you
to get this
very clearly
in your mind.
I have no
basis
on which
to say that
other than
the word
of God
and the clear
words of the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Do you
understand that?
I am not
up here
reciting
some psychologist
that kind of
tells you
about an
afterlife
or talking
about Tibetan
prayer flags
or something
else like that.
I am telling
you on the
basis of
the word
of God
that there
is heaven
and there
is hell
and those
who have
faith in
Christ
spend
eternity
with him
and those
who reject
the Lord
Jesus
will suffer
forever.
I want you
to understand
that the
Bible is clear
that the
sinner will
spend
forever
in a place
that Christ
describes
in terrible
terms.
For starters,
most of what
we know
about hell
comes from
information
Jesus gave
us.
John MacArthur
comments that
though every
New Testament
author writes
about hell,
Jesus has the
most to say
about it and I
suppose that's
appropriate because
he was the one
who came to
save us from
our sin and
deliver us from
the certainty
of hell.
Do you
understand that?
The one who
is willing to
die for my
sins is the
one who tells
me undeniably
what the future
is and what
the consequences
of not
believing and
not repenting
are going to
be.
I mean,
why?
Listen to me.
Why would
Jesus die on
the cross if
everybody went
to a better
place?
Do you follow
that?
Does that make
sense?
Why do that?
Let me read
to you several
of the things
that are clear
about hell.
For one,
it will be a
place of permanent
separation from the
glory and presence
of Christ.
What he said
there in verse
21 is this,
where I'm going
you cannot come.
It will be a
place of permanent
separation from the
glory of Christ.
It will also be a
place of weeping
and of gnashing of
teeth.
Over in Matthew
chapter 8 verse
12, and we're not
going to look at
that, but he
talks about the
fact that hell
will be a place
where there is
weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
And those words
express,
extreme heartache
and discomfort.
It will also be a
place of outer
darkness.
Matthew chapter 22
verse 13 says,
it will be a
place of outer
darkness.
Furthermore, in
Mark chapter 9
verse 48, it
says it will be a
place of unquenchable
fire.
Now stop and think
about that.
I have heard people
get kind of up in
my face about the
fact, well how can
hell be a place of
unquenchable fire?
Well, I don't know.
But here's what I
know.
The God who created
everything that exists
out of nothing,
let's go slow, out of
nothing will not have a
problem with doing
something with
unquenchable fire.
Do you follow that?
And if he tells me
that's the way it's
going to be, I would
be unwise to not take
him at his word.
It will also be a
place of eternal
torment.
Over in Luke chapter
16 verse 23 and 24,
it talks about the
fact that hell will be
a place of eternal
torment.
And I want you to
think with me just for
a moment that some of
the torment of hell
will not just be
physical.
Are you paying
attention?
It will not just be
physical.
It will also be the
unrelenting replay in
your mind of the
bitterness and the
anguish and the
heartache and the
irritation of your
soul.
How many of you have
ever laid awake at
night really been
irritated with somebody
else?
Raise your hands.
There's only four or
five of you.
I'm impressed.
Okay, let's try it
this way.
How many of you have
ever laid awake at
night really been
irritated with yourself?
Oh.
Hey, we've all done
both.
I got to tell you one
of the nice things
about doing so is
that eventually sleep
overtakes you and you
slip into that senseless
oblivion where you get
a little bit of a
break from that.
Can you imagine
staying awake forever
to be bitter at other
people and bitter at
yourself and regretting
all the bad decisions
that you've made and
the wickedness of your
soul and the hardship
of other people's
lives and still having
no relief?
I want you to
understand when Jesus
said, where I'm going
you will not come.
The thing that is
striking about this is
that some will
willingly, willfully
reject the truth.
Look at verse 25.
Just listen to this.
So they said to him,
who are you?
Now, how many of you
understand that tone of
voice is really big?
Do you follow what I'm
saying?
I see Judith is sitting
back there and after 46
years of marriage we
still have those tone of
voice issues, don't we
honey?
It's more me because I'm
more emotional, you know,
what do you mean with
that?
Tone of voice is like, I
mean, let's try it this
way.
Who are you?
You know.
But when you say, who
are you?
And I was like, get out of
my space.
Who are you to tell me
I'm going to hell?
And here were the Jews
actually challenging
Jesus when he told them,
hey, where I'm going,
you're not coming.
Now listen to what they
say because this is
actually a little
interesting.
In the passage, he said
in verse 24, he said,
who are you?
And they said, he will
kill himself since he
says where I'm going you
cannot come.
Listen to me carefully.
A little bit of Jewish
theology helps you at this
point, right?
You can take this home and
try it around the dinner
table.
The Jews believed that
anybody who committed
suicide went to the
lowest part of hell.
Low.
Worst.
And here he said, where
I'm going you can't
not come.
They're saying, oh yeah?
You're thinking about
committing suicide, right?
Yeah, that's what they
were.
No, that's not what he
was saying at all.
You guys are going to
hell.
You've rejected me and
you're not going to be
where I am.
So let's come back around
because there's a very
interesting statement
Jesus makes in verse 21.
I'm going away and you
will seek me.
Oh.
Does that mean that
people get a second
chance in heaven or in
hell?
Everybody look at me.
I'm going like this.
No, no, no.
Nor is the false
doctrine of purgatory
ever found in scripture.
The idea that I can drop
money in an offering plate
or I can burn candles to
have a friend kind of move
up the food chain and out
is not true.
I want you to understand
what it is saying when it
says they will seek me.
Turn over in your Bibles
if you would please to the
passage that we just touched
on briefly earlier just in
passing.
Turn to Luke chapter 16
verse 24 and 27.
Luke chapter 16 verse 24 and 27
actually begins there in verse 19
where Jesus tells an account of a
rich man in Lazarus.
The rich man incredibly
financially endowed.
He had everything you wanted.
You know he had a motor home.
He had a retirement place in
you know southern Ohio and he had
property in Canada for the summer
and he had property in Florida.
Well actually in Jamaica for the
winter.
You know I mean bring the
missionaries in while we're at it.
You know it says hey he had it all.
He died and he went to what?
He went to hell.
And you look there in verse 24.
He called out Father Abraham have
mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip
the end of his finger in water and
cool my tongue.
And that doesn't happen.
Verse 28.
I have five brothers.
He says send someone to my father's
house.
I've got brothers.
I don't want them to come here.
I want you to understand that one
of the bitternesses of eternity will
not be.
I want you to think with me
carefully.
Follow me.
Oh by the way.
This evening I am going to preach on
how can a loving God send people to
hell forever.
Huh?
One of the hardships of eternity.
will not just be that there is no
second chance.
It will be that people who are in
hell will not want a second chance.
Hey if you spent your life rejecting
Christ while you're alive and you've
resisted every indication of the glory
and wisdom of God and all of his
goodness in this brief life.
Why would you want to have it full bore
in heaven forever?
The unrepentant will remain unrepentant.
In fact hardened in his state.
And we'll look at that a little bit more
later.
So here we understand
that those who go to hell will remain
there in all of eternity under God's
judgment resenting his holiness.
Resenting the marvelous offer of salvation
through the atonement.
Resenting all and everyone and everything
just in a bitter, angry, hateful, sorry,
painful mess.
Can God be loving and also just?
That's the practical question that comes to us
as we look at this passage here in Matthew
chapter 8.
And let me just kind of touch on several
thoughts in relationship to that.
For one I want you to know that when Jesus
came back into Jerusalem in the week
preceding his crucifixion it tells us that
as he looked upon Jerusalem that holy city
that was going to refuse his offer and
crucify him it says this that he looked
upon them and he says oh Jerusalem,
Jerusalem his heart was broken by the
hardness that sin had produced in them
and he grieved over that city's abject
rejection of the sweetness of the gospel.
And here's something stunning.
When Jesus marched with resolute determination
to the cross there were many women who moaned
moaned and groaned at the physical evidence
of his suffering.
Do you know what he said to them?
Don't cry for me.
Cry for those who will suffer in the coming
judgment that is going to come on the city
of Jerusalem.
Do you wonder what the heart of Christ is like
towards sinners?
It is compassionate.
It is tender.
It is sympathetic.
One of the things it says in the book of Ezekiel
it says this.
It says God takes no pleasure in the death
of the wicked.
If you ever wonder about how deeply Jesus
cares about sinners and how seriously takes
the matter of hell, you stop and realize that
he was willing to go to the cross to keep you
from that place.
And so when we preach John chapter 8 and we hear
Jesus say that where I'm going you cannot come.
You will die in your sin.
The practical question that a pastor should ask
when he preaches a passage like this
will you die
as one who has come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
or will you die in your sin?
That's it.
Will you die as one who's come to faith in Christ
or will you die in your sin?
There are some of you thinking, well it looks like he's
coming to the end and I'd like to go out and have dinner.
I'm not.
The purpose of preaching
is to put people on the spot
of saying yes
or no
to God.
Let's pray.
Father God, this morning heaven and hell
is what is before us.
when we stop and consider
we who know the Lord Jesus Christ
of the unbelievable blessing
that you have given us
in delivering us from the kingdom of darkness
and bringing us into the kingdom
of your dear son
we understand why our lives
should amount to more.
And there's some of us here this morning
that need to repent
for being so self-consumed
in the reality
in the face
of the truth
of the darkness
and suffering
of eternity.
We want to live holy
winsome
joyful
sweet
humble
lives
in the presence
of an unbelieving world
that is staggering
towards hell.
We want the things
that we are remembered
for
not to be
the substance
of our possessions
but the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are some here today
that do not know
the Lord Jesus
and it has been my prayer
and it is the prayer
of every one of God's people
this morning
that today
the spirit of God
would bring conviction
and repentance
that sinners
confessing
the darkness
of their soul
and their complete inability
to save themselves
would be drawn
to understand
that there is no hope
apart from Christ
that today
where they sit
with broken humility
they would confess
Father God
I stand
justly condemned
and yet
you have sent
the Lord Jesus Christ
to bear
my sin
upon the cross
and you have
offered me
salvation
through
believing
in
his
finished work
and I claim
your promise
salvation
and forgiveness
in the Lord Jesus Christ
Amen
Ask thee
holy